A particular focus for study throughout will be where the balance should be struck between economic exigencies and political and social necessities. This should be of interest to those concerned with a range of development issues, as well as those intrigued by Southern Africa specifically. At every stage of the tour there will be pre-arranged meetings with prominent figures in politics and government, industry and commerce, rural development, and academic analysis. Site visits will include townships, rural settlements and development projects. There will also be sight-seeing trips to the Umfolozi Game Reserve, Museum Africa, the Valley of a Thousand Hills near Durban and the magnificent surroundings of Cape Town.
Liberal democracy is now the prevalent constitutional model over much of the globe.
Even regimes which reject this model usually acknowledge, if not always sincerely, that legitimacy derives from the popular will. The adaptation of most areas of government to democratic accountability has been relatively straightforward, but foreign policy has remained a partial exception, with electorates often prepared to accept a degree of secrecy in its formulation and operation. Strong arguments exist for this. On the other hand, it seems illogical, if not dangerous, that in a democracy foreign policy should be conducted with relatively little reference to a legislature, let alone the electorate. The last fifteen years have seen a revolution in the media industry.