September 1, 2006

The Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies (RUSI) is the United Kingdom’s leading forum for defense and security issues. In 2006 RUSI initiated a series of Africa-related activities in partnership with the Johannesburg-based Brenthurst Foundation, with the generous support of the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

RUSI has already covered African affairs for some years; most recently, a major conference on the Darfur crisis in Sudan was held on 6 July this year. However, given the multiplicity of the current challenges facing the African continent and their growing importance for the security of the United Kingdom, RUSI has now decided to cover African affairs on a more systematic basis, in partnership with The Brenthurst Foundation. The first annual Nelson Mandela Essay competition on African Security and Development was held earlier this year, a new African Visiting Fellow will join the Institute in the autumn, and a series of lectures are scheduled for next year.

The President of Rwanda, Mr. Paul Kagame, will launch RUSI’s African activities with a lecture at the Institute on 18 September, at 14:30, and I would like to invite you to attend this important event. President Kagame will speak on “The New Africa: Prospects for Sustainable Peace and Security”. We expect Mr. Kagame, as a firm advocate of a new approach to African security arrangements, to outline his ideas during his presentation. After his lecture, there will be an opportunity to put questions to the Rwandan president.

If you are interested in attending, you can do so by either logging in directly to:

http://rusi.org/events/ref:E44EC5DA215BFC/

Or you can email Mrs. Sabrina Downey, RUSI’s Events Manager, at sabrinad@rusi.org.

We are keen to have a good participation at this important event, in order to ensure a proper debate.

Details of the Institute’s location and opening hours are available on their website at:

http://rusi.org/contactus/location/