 He began to take a wider interest in defence issues, writing extensively on the subject, such as The Conditions and Requirements of the Volunteer Force (1886). In July 1899, as the Second Boer War loomed, Balfour offered to raise a thousand men to go and fight, but it was considered too early to begin that effort. His offer to the minister George Wyndham was ignored by the War Office, and Balfour reacted angrily, complaining that volunteers were "expected to be fit for service while we are vigorously debarred from seeing any".
