Thomas Wheeler

Position: Research Associate
Programme/Project: Division of Marketing and Communication

Thomas.Wheeler@wits.ac.za

Areas of Research Expertise:
- South African foreign policy
- Turkey, Central Asia and Latin America
- Multilateral diplomacy

Background:
Ambassador Thomas Wheeler served in the South African Foreign Service from 1961 to 2003; he served as Chief Director:  Multilateral 1993 -1997; SA Ambassador to Turkey and the former Soviet Central Asian states of Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan 1997 - 2001; and lastly, Chief Director: Latin America and the Caribbean 2001 - 2003. He joined SAIIA as its Chief Operating Officer in 2003. He was appointed as SAIIA's Foreign Policy Research Fellow in November 2006. He was editor of SA Foreign Policy Monitor and managing editor of the SA Yearbook of International Affairs 2008-09. He is also a fortnightly columnist for The New Age newspaper.

Language:
English, Afrikaans, limited reading ability in German, French and Turkish

Recent publications:

Wheeler, T. Keeping a Sharp Eye: A Century of Cartoons on South Africa's International Relations 1910 – 2010 by Peter Vale, book review, South African Journal of International Affairs, Volume 19 No 1, April 2012

Wheeler, T, Global Insider: Turkey-Africa Relations, World Politics Review, 10 June 2011

Wheeler, T, Ankara to Africa: Turkey’s outreach since 2005, South African Journal of International Affairs, Volume 18, No 1, April 2011

Wheeler. T, co-compiler with Pieter Wolvaardt and Werner Scholtz of a trilogy of books titled From Verwoerd to Mandela: South African Diplomats Remember . The books contain the personal stories of over 100 South African diplomats who served between 1966 and 1995. March 2011

Wheeler T, 'Central Asia and the Caspian Region: Their significance for South Africa', South African Yearbook of International Affairs 2006/7, SAIIA, 2007.

Wheeler T, 'South Africa's New Relations with Latin America and the Caribbean', South African Yearbook of International Affairs 2006/7, SAIIA, 2007.

Wheeler T (ed), The History of the South African Department of Foreign Affairs 1927-1993, SAIIA, 2005.

Wheeler T, 'Turkey and South Africa: Development of Relations 1860 - 2005', SAIIA Report, No 47, SAIIA, 2005.

Wheeler T, 'Multilateral diplomacy: South Africa's Achievements', in Sidiropoulos E (Ed), Apartheid Past, Renaissance Future, South Africa's Foreign Policy 1994 -2004, SAIIA, 2004.

Wheeler, T, 'South Africa's relations with Latin America and the Caribbean', UNISA Latin American Report, UNISA Centre for Latin American Studies, Volume 19, No 1, 2003.

Wheeler, T, 'South-South Co-operation', UNISA  Latin American Report, UNISA Centre for Latin American Studies, Volume 20, No 2, 2004.

Wheeler, T, 'UN Reform Revisited', South African Foreign Policy Monitor, SAIIA, October 2003.