Draft:Alex Vines

• Comment: I am just going to explain the reason for the decline a little bit more so that you can properly improve it before resubmitting.
  1. References 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7 do not fulfil the "independent" secondary sources criteria as they are all published by organisations connected to the person (i.e. where they work or have worked).
  2. Reference 3 alone is not sufficient to establishing WP:BASIC notable requirement of the person having "received significant coverage in multiple published secondary sources that are reliable, intellectually independent of each other, and independent of the subject." MadelynnSienna (talk) 21:12, 30 August 2026 (UTC)

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Alex Vines OBE
Citizenship	British
Occupations	Academic and author
Awards	Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)
Academic background
Education	Coventry University (PhD) University of York (BA, MA)
Thesis	RENAMO and UNITA's armed resistance in Mozambique and Angola (2014)
Academic work
Discipline	International Relations
Sub-discipline	Europe and Africa relations
Institutions	Director of the Africa Programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR)
Notable works	Europe-Africa relations Sub-Saharan Africa Angola

Alex Vines OBE is a British author, academic and expert in Europe-Africa relations and on the politics of sub-Sahara Africa, especially Angola. He is a regular contributor to international media on African politics.

Vines founded the Africa Programme at Chatham House in 2002 and led it for over twenty years, stepping down in August 2025.

Early life and education

Vines holds BA (Hons) and MA degrees from the University of York in History and Southern African Studies.

He was awarded a PhD by publication from Coventry University. His doctoral thesis, titled "RENAMO and UNITA's armed resistance in Mozambique and Angola", explicitly concentrated on African politics, conflict studies, and international relations.

Career

Vines currently serves as the Africa programme director at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).

He is a Senior Visiting Fellow in the African Leadership Centre at King's College London; an assistant professor at Coventry University; he sits on the advisory board of the John and Elnora Ferguson Centre for African Studies (JEFCAS) at the University of Bradford; and on the board of EG Justice.

Vines is an honorary fellow of the Lagos-based Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, and a senior associate fellow of the Africa programme at the Italian Institute for Political Studies (ISPI) in Milan.

Honours

In 2008, Vines was awarded an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Queen's Birthday Honours list. He received the honour in recognition of his work on African politics and international relations. This included his contributions to founding and developing the Africa Programme at Chatham House, which he led from 2002 until late 2025.

Selected publications

Books

• Vines, A., 1991. Renamo: Terrorism in Mozambique. London: Centre for Southern African Studies, University of York.
• Vines, A., 1999. Angola Unravels: The Rise and Fall of the Lusaka Peace Process. New York: Human Rights Watch.
• Vines, A., 2004. Angola: Assessing Risks to Stability. London: Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
• Vines, A., Wong, L., Weimer, M. and Campos, I., 2009. Thirst for African Oil: Asian National Oil Companies in Angola and Nigeria. London: Chatham House Report.
• Vines, A., 2012. Swaziland: Southern Africa's Forgotten Crisis. London: Chatham House.

Journal articles

• Vines, A., 2006. Dousing the flames of resource wars. South African Journal of International Affairs, 13(1), pp. 85-100.
• Vines, A., 2006. The scramble for resources: African case studies. South African Journal of International Affairs, 13(1), pp. 63-75.
• Vines, A., 2007. Can UN arms embargoes in Africa be effective? International Affairs, 83(6), pp. 1107-1121.
• Vines, A., 2010. Rhetoric from Brussels and reality on the ground: the EU and security in Africa. International Affairs, 86(5), pp. 1091-1108.
• Vines, A. and Cargill, T., 2010. South Africa's politics of peace and security in Africa. South African Journal of International Affairs, 17(1), pp. 25-38.
• Vines, A., 2012. The effectiveness of UN and EU sanctions: lessons for the twenty-first century. International Affairs, 88(4), pp. 867-877.
• Vines, A., 2013. A decade of African Peace and Security Architecture. International Affairs, 89(1), pp. 89-109.

Book chapters and policy papers

• Vines, A. and Cargill, T., 2010. Sub-Saharan Africa. In: R. Niblett, ed. America and a Changed World: A Question of Leadership. London: Wiley-Blackwell.
• Vines, A. and Kell, F., 2022. Oceans: African Spaces: The new geopolitical frontlines. In: Chatham House Research Papers. London: Chatham House.
• Vines, A. and Amare, T., 2023. Africa and the United Kingdom: Influence and soft power. In: Chatham House Insights. London: Chatham House.

• Vines, A., 2025. Middle power dreaming: The geopolitics of Angola’s emergence. Policy Brief. London: European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).
• Vines, A., 2025. Caught in the Corridor: Angola, Europe and America. Policy Analysis. London: European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).

External links

European Council on Foreign Relations

King's College London

Coventry University

Institute for International Political Studies