Unprincipled pragmatism and anti-imperialist impulses in an interconnected world

Abstract

The Zuma administration departed from this vision of an interconnected world. It worked off a foreign policy paradigm that in practice was markedly different to that of both previous governments. Zuma’s foreign policy conduct can be characterised as one of unprincipled pragmatism. Zuma and the African National Congress used the anti-imperialist cloak in order to mask what was its declining moral authority in South Africa’s foreign policy. The Zuma administration departed from this vision of an interconnected world. The ratcheting up of anti-Western views in South African foreign policy under Zuma is a departure from the more nuanced Pan-Africanist perspective of the Thabo Mbeki years. The Zuma era reflected the drawing of the curtain on principled pragmatism. To be fair, the signs that South Africa’s lustre was waning began just before Zuma took over. Under President Zuma, foreign policy was bereft of the ideas and strategic intent that reflect a distinct national interest.