Previous page | New search |
The free AfricaBib App for Android is available here
Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Behind linkage diplomacy: the Brazzaville Accord revisited |
Author: | Kaela, L.C.W. |
Year: | 1990 |
Periodical: | The African Review: A Journal of African Politics, Development and International Affairs |
Volume: | 17 |
Issue: | 1-2 |
Pages: | 92-107 |
Language: | English |
Notes: | biblio. refs. |
Geographic terms: | Angola South Africa Namibia United States Southern Africa |
Subjects: | civil wars peace treaties independence conflict resolution Imperialism, Colonialism Brazzaville Accord international relations Autonomy war |
Abstract: | After several months of negotiations mediated by the United States, South Africa, Cuba and Angola signed a peace agreement in Brazzaville on 13 December, 1988. The agreement provided for the independence of Namibia in line with Resolution 435 (1978) of the UN Security Council and the withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola. It took ten rounds of bargaining before agreement was reached on all major issues. The internationalization and recasting of the Namibian problem in the context of the Cold War, with attendant implications for Angola's security, was a major obstacle to reaching a negotiated settlement. This article critically analyses the role played by the United States in the search for a solution, with special reference to the policy of linking Cuban troop withdrawal from Angola to Namibian independence. It discusses the terms and the implications of the Brazzaville Accord for Angola's security. Factors facilitating the Accord include the improvement in superpower relations and a rise in the level of external and internal pressure on the government of South Africa. The author concludes that the Brazzaville Accord on peace in Angola and independence for Namibia may give Namibians the independence they have waited for for so long, but Angola may have to wait for peace for some time, although its security may have improved. Notes, ref. (Revised version in: Transafrican Journal of History, vol. 22 (1993), p. 122-141.) |