South Africa's foreign policy and the strategy of soft power

Abstract

The increasing importance of soft power in global politics is recognised both in the literature and among scholars and practitioners of international relations. There is a rich literature on the dimensions and characteristics of soft power in countries such as the US, China, Brazil, Norway and Canada. The application of soft power in analysing the activities of middle and regional powers/hegemons has also been extensively explored. However, this area of study has been neglected somewhat in South Africa's foreign policy literature, and has not been taken sufficiently seriously by practitioners, despite increasing evidence of the country's engagement of soft power. The article traces the sources of South Africa's soft power and contributes to the nascent discourse on establishing the usefulness of soft power for Pretoria. It argues that the opportunities inherent in soft power present a significant platform for South Africa to reassert itself as an accepted regional power, particularly in Africa, where its leadership is often contested.