Skip to main content
Support
Article

NPIHP Partner Anna-Mart van Wyk published in LSE <i>IDEAS</i>

Deals, Denials and Declassification: Israeli-South African Nuclear Collaboration

An article by Nuclear Proliferation International History Project partner Anna-Mart van Wyk was the cover story in the most recent edition of LSE's journal IDEAS.

A May 2010 article by The Guardian correspondent Chris McGreal suggested that, according to newly available South African archival documents, Israel offered to sell nuclear weapons to South Africa in June of 1975. Drawing upon her own research as well as other published sources, van Wyk evaluated McGreal's assertions, concluding that because they rest in large measure upon analysis of the sub-text of a single conversation between South African Defence Minister PW Botha and his Israeli counterpart, Shimon Peres, they warrant skepticism until further declassification can shed more light upon the subject.

The full-text of the article is available on the LSE IDEAS website.

Anna-Mart van Wyk is a lecturer in history at Monash University, South Africa where she specializes in the history of South Africa's nuclear program. Since earning her Ph.D. in 2005 she has published prolifically on this subject, including in the peer-edited journals Cold War History, Historia, South African history Journal and History Compass. An expert on South African nuclear history-related archival holdings, she also has a background in oral and critical oral history research.

Related Programs

Nuclear Proliferation International History Project

The Nuclear Proliferation International History Project is a global network of individuals and institutions engaged in the study of international nuclear history through archival documents, oral history interviews, and other empirical sources. At the Wilson Center, it is part of the Wilson Center's History and Public Policy Program.  Read more

Cold War International History Project

The Cold War International History Project supports the full and prompt release of historical materials by governments on all sides of the Cold War. Through an award winning Digital Archive, the Project allows scholars, journalists, students, and the interested public to reassess the Cold War and its many contemporary legacies. It is part of the Wilson Center's History and Public Policy Program.  Read more

History and Public Policy Program

The History and Public Policy Program makes public the primary source record of 20th and 21st century international history from repositories around the world, facilitates scholarship based on those records, and uses these materials to provide context for classroom, public, and policy debates on global affairs.  Read more