Video - "Living in the Shadow of Catastrophe" lecture by South Africa's High Commissioner to Canada, His Excellency, Rieaz Shaik

01/30/2024

Speaker's Biography

High Commissioner Rieaz Shaik is South Africa’s envoy to Canada since 2022. Mr Shaik was an anti-apartheid activist, a former student leader, and an active member of African National Congress's (ANC). He has held several senior management positions, both in the private and public sectors: CEO at CorpAfrica (Pty) limited, South Africa's Consul General to Germany, South Africa's Ambassador to the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, Special Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Head of South Africa’s foreign intelligence service, and Group Executive of the Development Bank of Southern Africa..

Summary

The CRDP is pleased to welcome His Excellency Rieaz Shaik, South Africa’s High Commissioner to Canada since 2022. The High Commissioner will share his extensive experience in politics, diplomacy, economics and security to analyze current geopolitical tensions, global justice, and strategic (re)-alignments in the international system. His Excellency Rieaz Shaik will thus identify a series of structural issues that shape contemporary international relations: the Global South’s assertion in global politics, the rise of the BRICS and expansion of its membership, the evolution of South African and Canadian foreign policies, and potential reforms of major international organizations. The High Commissioner will also discuss the immediate conjuncture. In a much commented on diplomatic move, the Republic of South Africa brought a case against Israel in front of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on 29 December 2023, accusing the latter of genocide in its campaign against Hamas in Gaza. With this initiative, will South Africa manage to confront Israel with regards to the numerous breaches of international humanitarian law identified by many lawyers?

This content has been updated on 01/31/2024 at 9 h 59 min.