Justice and restitution as themes of South African foreign relations: The search for ontological security

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ABSTRACTThe South African state considers its foreign relations as a means to an end. That end – the national interest – is articulated as developing the economy to address issues of poverty and underdevelopment inherited from years of oppressive and exploitative ‘foreign’ rule, and eventually to ‘build a better South Africa, in a better and safer world’. This article draws on IR theories of ontological security to explore how the South African state arrived at articulating this national interest by first looking at the ways in which historic relationships with states of the Global North have shaped the South African identity, and then asking to what extent South Africa expects states of the North to contribute toward the achievement of this goal as a form of restitution for the perceived injustices of the age of European imperialism.