Dries Putter
Biographic Data
| ID | 5069904 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Dries Putter |
| GIVEN NAMES | Dries |
| FAMILY NAME | Putter |
| SIGNATURE | PUTTER D |
| AFFILIATIONS | Stellenbosch University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1865-6054 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 12 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 0 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 11 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2022 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 0 |
Securing the global digital backbone
Undersea cables are essential to global digital connectivity and support cross-border energy transmission. They face accidental risks from anchoring, fishing and environmental hazards, alongside intentional disruption through espionage, sabotage and hybrid coercion. Governments, regional organisations and industry are developing frameworks to strengthen prevention, detection, response, repair and deterrence. The European Union's 2025 Action Plan …
Intelligence in Asymmetric Conflict
Examining the preparedness of the South African Intelligence Community (SAIC) to address asymmetric threats becomes a matter of national importance given the proximity of international terrorist organizations like the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria to SA and the detrimental impact of organized crime, particularly state capture, on the country’s government and state-owned enterprises. The research was based on a relativist ontological assumption …
Retracted Article
Covert action remains a critical element of modern intelligence operations and an important instrument of state power in security competition. Rooted in secrecy and plausible deniability, it featured prominently in Cold War struggles for influence. This research examines the conceptualization, scope, and methodologies of covert action within intelligence studies, with specific attention to its theoretical, legal, ethical, and strategic dimensions…
Reflecting on the methodological, ethical, and epistemic challenges of researching drones in African battlespaces
This article critically reflects on the methodological, ethical, and practical challenges of researching drone deployments in African conflict zones. Drawing on insights from the recently published volume, Drones in the African Battlespaces, it explores how secrecy, fragmented data, geopolitical entanglements, and physical risk complicate empirical research in these settings. The proliferation of drones, used by states, foreign powers, rebels, an…
Drones in the African Battlespaces
Military Intelligence in Africa
The evolving dynamics of US-China competition in Africa are examined with respect to military presence, soft power, and intelligence. A network-centric approach with sensitivity to cultural understanding is explored for US military intelligence (USMI) on the African continent, i.e., identifying key nodes, link creation, and centrality within the African intelligence network. Challenges and risks are acknowledged. A comprehensive approach is propo…
National Security Perspective on Armed Banditry in Northwest Nigeria
This study seeks to explore the negative impacts of armed banditry in North-west (NW) Nigeria from a national security standpoint. The qualitative research design was used in the study to examine pertinent discourses with respect to armed banditry in the NW region and Nigeria’s national security. The paper adopts the theory of functionalism given that it provides a framework for all the stakeholders in a whole-of-society approach to collaborate a…
Network-centric US military intelligence strategy for Africa's evolving geopolitical landscape
The Rise and Fall of South Africa’s Intelligence Community during Apartheid
The author explores the context that contributed to the evolution of the South African Intelligence Community (SAIC) from political police to an independent security state during the apartheid, nondemocratic regime (1961–1994). It also assesses the circumstances that led to the demise of authoritarian rule and the reform of the intelligence apparatus. It finds that such factors as the security landscape, changes in leadership, and enabling legisl…
Hybrid warfare and disinformation
Misinformation, disinformation and mal information are part of the information disorder construct, dominating the information warfare domain. These are key enablers associated with grey zone operations, and an integral part of current adversaries' and competitors' hybrid warfare tool kit. Disinformation, in combination with influence operations, also plays an important role within the concept of hybrid warfare; both from a threat–and own resilien…
Scoping the Future Counterintelligence Focus
A summary of counterintelligence threat chokepoints from the perspectives of the United States, Israel, the European Union, Nordic countries, and South Africa are presented. These chokepoints seem to stem from geopolitical competitiveness and manifest as espionage, subversion, terrorism, and covert action in any accessible domain possible. The discussion of threat focus areas has been chosen after consideration of the ontology of such threats, in…
A grey zone
The prospect of extra-terrestrial (outer space) armed conflict between major powers is a real possibility. As early as 1966, an Outer Space Treaty was signed by over 100 countries in response to such a possibility. In 2019, NATO declared outer space a new potential war zone or military operational domain alongside air, land, sea, and cyberspace. This new war zone is mainly a strategic frontier, exclusively dominated by a few global superpowers. I…
No prominent works on this page.
A grey zone
The prospect of extra-terrestrial (outer space) armed conflict between major powers is a real possibility. As early as 1966, an Outer Space Treaty was signed by over 100 countries in response to such a possibility. In 2019, NATO declared outer space a new potential war zone or military operational domain alongside air, land, sea, and cyberspace. This new war zone is mainly a strategic frontier, exclusively dominated by a few global superpowers. I…
Hybrid warfare and disinformation
Misinformation, disinformation and mal information are part of the information disorder construct, dominating the information warfare domain. These are key enablers associated with grey zone operations, and an integral part of current adversaries' and competitors' hybrid warfare tool kit. Disinformation, in combination with influence operations, also plays an important role within the concept of hybrid warfare; both from a threat–and own resilien…
Scoping the Future Counterintelligence Focus
A summary of counterintelligence threat chokepoints from the perspectives of the United States, Israel, the European Union, Nordic countries, and South Africa are presented. These chokepoints seem to stem from geopolitical competitiveness and manifest as espionage, subversion, terrorism, and covert action in any accessible domain possible. The discussion of threat focus areas has been chosen after consideration of the ontology of such threats, in…
The Rise and Fall of South Africa’s Intelligence Community during Apartheid
The author explores the context that contributed to the evolution of the South African Intelligence Community (SAIC) from political police to an independent security state during the apartheid, nondemocratic regime (1961–1994). It also assesses the circumstances that led to the demise of authoritarian rule and the reform of the intelligence apparatus. It finds that such factors as the security landscape, changes in leadership, and enabling legisl…
Drones in the African Battlespaces
Military Intelligence in Africa
The evolving dynamics of US-China competition in Africa are examined with respect to military presence, soft power, and intelligence. A network-centric approach with sensitivity to cultural understanding is explored for US military intelligence (USMI) on the African continent, i.e., identifying key nodes, link creation, and centrality within the African intelligence network. Challenges and risks are acknowledged. A comprehensive approach is propo…
National Security Perspective on Armed Banditry in Northwest Nigeria
This study seeks to explore the negative impacts of armed banditry in North-west (NW) Nigeria from a national security standpoint. The qualitative research design was used in the study to examine pertinent discourses with respect to armed banditry in the NW region and Nigeria’s national security. The paper adopts the theory of functionalism given that it provides a framework for all the stakeholders in a whole-of-society approach to collaborate a…
Network-centric US military intelligence strategy for Africa's evolving geopolitical landscape
Securing the global digital backbone
Undersea cables are essential to global digital connectivity and support cross-border energy transmission. They face accidental risks from anchoring, fishing and environmental hazards, alongside intentional disruption through espionage, sabotage and hybrid coercion. Governments, regional organisations and industry are developing frameworks to strengthen prevention, detection, response, repair and deterrence. The European Union's 2025 Action Plan …
Intelligence in Asymmetric Conflict
Examining the preparedness of the South African Intelligence Community (SAIC) to address asymmetric threats becomes a matter of national importance given the proximity of international terrorist organizations like the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria to SA and the detrimental impact of organized crime, particularly state capture, on the country’s government and state-owned enterprises. The research was based on a relativist ontological assumption …
Retracted Article
Covert action remains a critical element of modern intelligence operations and an important instrument of state power in security competition. Rooted in secrecy and plausible deniability, it featured prominently in Cold War struggles for influence. This research examines the conceptualization, scope, and methodologies of covert action within intelligence studies, with specific attention to its theoretical, legal, ethical, and strategic dimensions…
Reflecting on the methodological, ethical, and epistemic challenges of researching drones in African battlespaces
This article critically reflects on the methodological, ethical, and practical challenges of researching drone deployments in African conflict zones. Drawing on insights from the recently published volume, Drones in the African Battlespaces, it explores how secrecy, fragmented data, geopolitical entanglements, and physical risk complicate empirical research in these settings. The proliferation of drones, used by states, foreign powers, rebels, an…
Law (7 works) · Political science (7 works) · Geopolitics (5 works) · Intelligence, Security, War Strategy (5 works) · Politics (4 works) · Competitive and Knowledge Intelligence (3 works) · Geography (3 works) · Computer Science (2 works) · Covert (2 works) · Cybersecurity and Cyber Warfare Studies (2 works)