The publication last year of Andrew Feinstein's The Shadow World: inside the global arms trade provided the RAS with a neat opportunity to invite the author to SOAS to speak about the Africa-related elements in the book.
After his early experience (and subsequent book After the Party) serving as an increasingly disillusioned ANC MP in South Africa, Feinstein has now crafted himself a niche as a writer, commentator and campaigner against the global arms trade. The Shadow World is a massive but eminently readable tome with content ranging from a history of the major players in the development of the industry, to a case-by-case study of the role of the trade in Africa - from the vast deals between arms manufacturers and governments, to the impact the trade has in perpetuating and intensifying African conflicts.
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