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Transnational Revolutionary Networks and the Global Cold War: The African National Congress, the Irish Republican Army, and the Palestine Liberation Organisation, 1969-2005
My doctoral research examines transnational bonds of solidarity between the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), the African National Congress (ANC), and the Irish Republican Army (IRA) during the 1969-1991 period of the Global Cold War. These case studies were chosen for the clear synergies between these three self-determination struggles, their convergent evolution from armed resistance to diplomatic engagement along remarkably parallel timelines, and the enduring salience of their solidarity in modern political discourse–South Africa’s December 2023 complaint against Israel at the ICJ and Ireland’s May 2024 recognition of the state of Palestine are two amongst many recent examples.
The project builds on my MPhil research, which found that the ANC-PLO bond involved exchanges of paramilitary training and financial support, mutual diplomatic advocacy at international forums such as the United Nations, collaboration between civil society organisations in the post-Mandela period, and other modes of cooperation. My doctoral research incorporates the IRA’s role in this transnational network, exploring whether these three movements constituted a trilateral alliance within the broader Third World, nonaligned, and anti-colonial revolutionary community. I am also interested in uncovering the role of state actors—particularly Muammar Qaddafi’s Libyan Jamahiriya and Fidel Castro’s Cuban regime—in fostering this revolutionary network.
Date:
4 November 2025, 16:00
Venue:
Queen Elizabeth House, 3 Mansfield Road OX1 3TB
Venue Details:
Meeting Room A
Speakers:
Speaker to be announced
Organising department:
Oxford Department of International Development
Organiser:
Ila Axelrod (University of Oxford)
Organiser contact email address:
ila.axelrod@qeh.ox.ac.uk
Part of:
Oxford Southern Africa Discussion Group
Booking required?:
Not required
Audience:
Members of the University only
Editor:
Tamsin Kelk
