South Africaâ€™s Military and Peacekeeping Efforts: A new paradigm shift in its foreign policy since 1994

Toyin Cotties Adetiba

doi:10.22610/jebs.v9i5.1920

Abstract

One of the South Africa's great soft power attributes has been the attraction and power of its transition to inclusive democratic governance after a long period of apartheid rule. This gave South Africa a certain moral authority and prestige to play very significant roles in conflict resolution and mediation through peacekeeping operations. Every government in an ever-changing and dynamic geopolitical environment ensure that its defence force cum foreign policy conform to the international environment while aiming at the defence and protection of its national interests. Using interpretive approach; this work argues that; fundamentally, there are three basic factors that reinforce South Africaâ€™s participation in peacekeeping which are politics, economy and security. By extension these three elements is considered a transformational agent of South Africaâ€™s economy. SANDF is, therefore, considered a dynamic and exceptional foreign policy tool that complements and at same time enhances South Africaâ€™s diplomatic manoeuvrings and influence within the wider international developments. It is concluded that South Africaâ€™s multilateral and foreign policy agendas have been driven by the pursuit of its national interest while trying to ensure peace in other African states.

Highlights

Since its first inclusive; democratically, elected government in 1994, South Africa’s political engagement on the continent (Africa) has shown preference for a normative drive in its foreign policy
As understood by Alden & Le Pere (2009), South Africa's foreign policy agenda following the demise of apartheid in1994 has been premised on the belief that the well-matched of human strategic review for Southern Africa, rights, democracy and solidarity politics is a means to its own developmental needs
Peacekeeping, debatably is covertly designed to be part of a face-saving diplomatic tactic aimed at providing a cover up for an unending war by proxy to prevent conflict that may lead to deprivation of socio-political development and sometimes the political interest of the state providing the peacekeepers

Summary

Introduction

Since its first inclusive; democratically, elected government in 1994, South Africa has shown preference for a normative drive in its foreign policy. The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) of recent has been a significant role player and debatably, central feature of the former apartheid enclave foreign policy This perhaps, can be attributed to an aggregate of its political needs to deal with the frequent occurrence of objectionable levels of conflict and instability at regional level, precisely from an international and regional peacekeeping perception. Within the government in South Africa and towards the end of 1990s, there has been increasing appreciation of the fact that South Africa’s socio-political and economic stability would be closely linked to the economic and political development of the Africa as a whole, a realization that reflected the close connection between regional stability and its national interest (Nibishaka, 2011) It is against this background that the work examines South Africa’s military and its peacekeeping efforts in Africa; as a new paradigm shift in South Africa’s foreign policy. The contention is that contrary to initial use of the South Africa military as an instrument of suppression within and outside South Africa, in more idealistic terms the South Africa military has gradually re-emerged to become a more prominent feature of South African foreign policy

Methodology

Theoretical expectation

South Africa’s military and peace keeping efforts

Findings

Conclusion