The African continent is marred by conflict. Although there is much attention to matters of war and peace in Africa, the underlying doctrines of African rebels and revolutionaries are usually overlooked. Rather than imposing Western theory on African developments, this presentation considers the contribution of African military thought to the changing global order. It does so by focusing on national liberation movements, which spearheaded the struggle for independence during the twentieth century. The resulting birth of new states and international organizations led to a transformation of warfare doctrines and geopolitical relations.

Dr Tycho van der Hoog is a researcher at the Netherlands Defence Academy. He completed a PhD at the African Studies Centre of Leiden University and conducted extensive research in African archives. He was the recipient of the BISA African Affairs Postgraduate Paper Prize and was elected as one of the ´Faces of Science´ by the Royal Netherlands Academy for Arts and Sciences. His book Comrades Beyond the Cold War: North Korea and the Liberation of Southern Africa was published by Hurst and Oxford University Press in 2025.