America’s Role in the End of South African Apartheid

Abstract

The question addressed in this paper is: What was the most significant US foreign policy that influenced the end of apartheid in South Africa, and what were its major costs and benefits? This paper argues that the inefficacy of Reagan’s policy of constructive engagement, combined with political rebellion and violence that penetrated international media coverage, led to the passage of economic sanctions in Congress under the 1986 Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, which was the most effective policy to help facilitate the end of South African apartheid.