Greg Mills

Dr Greg Mills is a strategic advisor to several African leaders, holds fellowships at the University of Navarra, the Centre for Cognitive Warfare, and the Royal United Services Institute, and is member of the creative team behind the Chalke History Festival. He was the Director of Studies and National Director of the South African Institute of International Affairs from 1994-2005, and then for 20 years, the founding director of the Johannesburg-based Brenthurst Foundation. He now serves as a Custodian to the Platform for African Democrats. 

His interests and professional expertise lie at the intersection of political economy and strategic studies, and focuses on the practical application of field-work. He served four assignments to the International Security Force in Afghanistan as the advisor to the commander, was a member of the Danish Africa Commission and the African Development Bank’s High-Level Panel on Fragile States, has directed numerous reform projects with more than two dozen African heads of government, and has conducted research in combat zones from Tigray to Ukraine. He is the author of numerous books including the best-selling Why Africa Is Poor, Rich State, Poor State, The Art of War and Peace and The Essence of Success. His latest book, War of the Machines: How Ukraine Has Reinvented War, And the People and Systems Behind It is co-authored with Lieutenant-General Sir Ralph Wooddisse, Eerik Kross MP, and the founder of the Athens Defence Summit Basil Gavalas, and is to be published in January 2027. 

A recipient of national colours for motorsport and a keen cyclist, he is married to Janet, an artist, and they have three university-age children: Amelia, Beatrix and William.