The Nonsuperpowers and South Africa: Implications For U.S. Policy (review)

Abstract

220 SAISREVIEW The Nonsuperpowers and South Africa: Implications For U.S. Policy. By Richard J. Payne. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990. 314 pp. $35.00/Hardcover. Reviewed by Elliot Posner, M.A. Candidate, SAIS. The fluidity of contemporary South African politics has probably dated Richard Payne's main point: that an effective American policy, aimed at dismantling apartheid, must be shaped in coordination with the nonsuperpowers. Still, his analysis and policy recommendations will remain a useful case study for the future, when the United States will again want to effect change in locations where it has only partial influence. The bulk of Payne's work—seven chapters, each detailing a relationship between South Africa and a nonsuperpower or group of nonsuperpowers—is, in its own right, of value. In each of the seven studies (on Britain, West Germany, Japan, Israel, Scandinavia, Canada and the Frontline States), Payne accounts for foreign policy decisions that have defined relationships with South Africa in terms ofhistory, culture, national psyche, economic and political stability, public opinion and decision-making institutions. Not satisfied to describe the various policies, he attempts to explain why such decisions were taken. These are engaging comparative discussions addressing how each nation, in an attempt not to sacrifice perceived national interests, chose the amount of pressure it would put on the South African government to end apartheid. Payne's biases do not interfere with his scholarship. He offers balanced and dispassionate appraisals, even if one might disagree with his conclusions. His inclusion of a chapter on the Frontline states properly frames the dilemmas encountered in making policy concerning South Africa. The chapter on West Germany, which describes the conflict between Genscher and Strauss and the resulting vague policy, is among the most interesting. Finally, the material on the Japanese historical experience with South Africa, including the "Honorary Whites" status granted to Japanese persons in 1961 to preserve extensive economic ties, raises perplexing questions regarding Japan's contemporary foreign relations. In places, the analyses come across as too facile (Britain, West Germany and Japan are said to place economics ahead of moral considerations), but in every instance Payne's evidence brings to the surface the complexities, contradictions and ambiguities in making and carrying out policies regarding South Africa. After expounding on the virtues of the "moral" Norwegians, for example, he mentions the provision in Norwegian law that allows national ships to deliver oil to South Africa. Nor does he overlook the benefits that the "moral" Canadians reap when their economic competitor, South Africa, retracts into isolation. This discord between easy reductions and nuanced evidence suggests a tendency to mistake a distinction of degree, between the different relationships with South Africa, for one of kind. Or has Payne simply side-stepped the compelling questions? Should we implicate certain of these nonsuperpowers for sleeping BOOK REVIEWS 221 with the devil, or can we explain away all policies through reverence for national interests? The hour for American anti-apartheid initiatives has probably expired, thus rendering Payne's ten policy recommendations obsolete. Moreover, Payne's provocative contention that the United States' unique experience with racial and ethnic conflict gives it credibility in its post-Cold War relations with South Africa may never be tested. The debate, nevertheless, over the degree to which sanctions and other strategies influenced the recent changes in South Africa has only begun. American foreign policy makers would be well advised to heed Payne's caution against unilateral policies in a world of many medium-sized players. If the evidence Payne presents is not earth-shattering (though it would be wrong not to recognize the thoroughness of the studies), he is to be commended for assembling it under one title. TAe Competitive Advantage ofNations. By Michael E. Porter. New York: The Free Press, 1990. 855 pp. $35.00/Hardcover. Reviewed by Ronald D. Sasine, M.A. Candidate, SAIS. Michael E. Porter's newest work, TAe Competitive Advantage ofNations, is the latest in his series of highly respected books on corporate strategy and competition . For readers familiar with Porter's previous efforts [Competitive Strategy (1980), Competitive Advantage (1985) and Competition in Global Industries (1986)], TAe Competitive Advantage ofNations represents a significant extension of his earlier...