Knox Chitiyo, a Zimbabwean, was the first RUSI Nelson Mandela Visiting Africa Fellow and now heads the RUSI Africa Programme, an initiative generously supported by the Brenthurst Foundation and the Nelson Mandela Foundation. Knox completed his B.A (English and History) and M.A (War Studies) and D.Phil (Military History) at the University of Zimbabwe. Knox  was a Senior Lecturer in War Studies in the History Department at the University of Zimbabwe from 1994–2003. He was also the Deputy Director (and co-founder) of the Centre for Defence Studies during the same period, and edited the Journal of African Security and Conflict. Currently based in the United Kingdom, Knox has since published in journals which examine Zimbabwean, southern African and broader African defence and security/developmental issues. He is also a regular contributor to the Guardian newspaper and is an African affairs commentator on the BBC, Al-Jazeera and other international news media. He also  comments on wider African diaspora issues. Knox is an Associate of the Brenthurst Foundation [E Oppenheimer and Sons]. He is also Chairman of the Britain- Zimbabwe Society.