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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | South African Foreign Policy in the African Context |
Author: | Venter, Denis |
Year: | 1998 |
Periodical: | African Currents |
Volume: | 13 |
Issue: | 26 |
Period: | October |
Pages: | 14-63 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | South Africa |
Subjects: | foreign policy international relations Inter-African Relations Politics and Government |
Abstract: | South Africa is presently feeling its way towards a foreign policy that might crudely be called 'universality'. The emphasis has shifted from Europe to Africa; a crude realist approach has been replaced by a neo-realist perspective. However, there is no coherent policy framework and the absence of a white paper on foreign policy has resulted in an eclectic approach. At the heart of the problem is the lack of a clear 'conception of the self'. South Africa is expected to play a major role on the African continent and to function as the engine of economic development in the southern African region. Broad choices in foreign policy place South Africa in the international mainstream and recognize the importance of economics in foreign relations, the peaceful resolution of conflict, regional cooperation and integration, and human rights. Positive developments in South Africa's foreign policy in the past few years include the decisive intervention to forestall another military takeover in Lesotho in August-September 1994. Less positive has been the government's failure to take an unequivocal stand on democracy and human rights in Nigeria prior to November 1995. |