Post-apartheid Foreign Policy Research Articles

Post-Apartheid South Africa and African Continental Integration: The Contribution of South African Multinational Corporations to Integration in Africa

ABSTRACT This article argues that while South Africa’s post-apartheid foreign policy on Africa has largely emphasized state-led continental political and economic integration, the country’s Multinational Corporations (MNCs) have led in the practical articulation of integration as an integral part of their expansion strategies in search for increased market share and the establishment of new markets on the continent. It assesses the intersection between South Africa’s foreign policy on Africa’s integration and the role of the country’s MNCs. The article adopts a three-part juxtaposition approach to determine the convergence between South Africa’s foreign policy goal of continental integration with the case studies of expansion strategies pursued by two of the country’s MNCs namely, Standard Bank of South Africa Limited (Standard Bank) and Shoprite Holdings Limited (Shoprite). African Union member states should ensure that they design foreign policies that align the interests of MNCs with national and continental goals of integration.

Re-Evaluating South African Foreign Policy Decision-Making: Archives, Architects and the Promise of Another Wave

ABSTRACT Research on South Africa’s post-apartheid foreign policy decision-making has stagnated. For more than a quarter century analysts have generally drawn on secondary material from other scholars, newspaper reporting, and the speeches of government officials to elucidate how South Africa crafts and carries out its foreign policy. The accessibility of previously classified archival documents and the availability of policy makers for research interviews holds the potential to advance scholarship on South African foreign policy along two fronts. First, these primary sources offer insight into foreign policy decision-making processes. And second, they encourage a critical re-evaluation of many of the traditional understandings and tropes that have dominated the study of South African foreign policy. This paper outlines the state of foreign policy studies in South Africa and then demonstrates the power of primary research to alter key ideas about the conduct and content of South African foreign policy through three case studies.

Change or Consistency? A Historical Overview of South Africa's Post-apartheid Foreign Policy

This study examines the trajectory of South Africa's post-apartheid foreign policy by establishing the extent of change or consistency in its implementation since 1994. Under the ruling African National Congress (ANC), South Africa has emerged as a promising international actor, particularly within the Southern African region and on the African continent in general. The authors provide a historical analysis of the major trajectories of foreign policy articulation under the administrations of Presidents Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma spanning the period 1994 to 2018. In investigating the conception and execution of foreign policy under these dispensations, the authors unravel a consistent but skewed pattern of national role conception that underscores Pretoria’s vision to be a major actor in international affairs, both regionally and globally. We conclude that South Africa’s foreign policy during this period was marked by Mandela’s altruism, Mbeki’s Afrocentrism and the antediluvian signature of Zuma.

South Africa's Post-apartheid Foreign Policy Making and the Role of the President

Who makes South Africa's foreign policy? This has been an area of continuous discussion following South Africa's transition to democracy in 1994. In the foreign policy analysis discourse considerable attention has been given to the role of the head of state and government in shaping foreign policy, particularly in developed countries. With South Africa's own President assuming a predominant role in foreign policy, there is a need for further reflection on the impact of this position in foreign policy decision making. Using existing theory and current analysis this article highlights the different approaches adopted by South Africa's first four democratically elected presidents, from the international statesmanship of Mandela, to the micro-management of Mbeki, the stabiliser role of Motlanthe and the consensus-building to absent leader position of Jacob Zuma. Drawing on Joseph Nye's discussion of the characterisation of transformational and transactional leadership, this analysis traces the approaches of the different Presidents in shaping South Africa's foreign policy and international engagement.

Soft Power: The Fourth ‘Tentacle’ of South Africa’s Foreign Policy

Studies on South African post-apartheid foreign policy have evolved through four distinctive strands: the estimative, the new dispensation, the ambiguity and strategic engagement. In this article, I attempt to illustrate that a burgeoning thread is noticeable in recent times within the fourth strand offering a marked perspective on the ideational and utilitarian substance of soft power for South Africa’s foreign policy and within the discursive context of its regional/middle power status. In considering the varied arguments submitted by scholars in this regard, the article uncovers three significant thematic positions. First, the cultivation and utilisation of soft power instruments present multiple platforms for expanding South Africa’s global reputation and regional influence. Second, soft power has been the fulcrum of South Africa’s post-apartheid foreign policy. Third and definitely no less important, this new body of analysis offer critical explanation into the international moral authority and global acceptance that South Africa ostensibly enjoys over and above other regional competitors. Drawing on Alden and Schoeman’s ‘symbolic representivity’ narrative, I argue that it is on the basis of these three interrelated assertions that South Africa’s putative hegemonic reference thrives.

South Africa's bilateral relationships in the evolving foreign policy of an emerging middle power

This article introduces the special issue on ‘South African Foreign Policy: identity, directions, and intentions’. Here we seek to summarize key insights from the contributions to this special issue to deepen understanding of South Africa’s evolving post-apartheid foreign policy through an exploration of the nature and trajectory of key bilateral relationships from both the global ‘South’ (Brazil, China, Iran, the AU) and ‘North’ (Japan and the UK). This window on the country’s international relations enriches understanding of the normative and structural factors that influence not only South African foreign policy, but those of what Edouard Jordaan calls emerging middle powers as they seek to position themselves as influential actors in international affairs. We sketch the contours of these key South African relationships in four areas where the tendencies and tensions of emerging middle power foreign policies are apparent: regionalism, multilateralism, reform of global governance, and approach to moral leadership.

South Africa, Antarctica, and the ATS: An Unrealized Foreign Policy Leadership Opportunity

Although South Africa is a founding member of the Antarctic Treaty, the southernmost continent has played little part in its post-apartheid foreign policy. This article, however, argues that vigorous engagement with Antarctica and Antarctic politics represents an unparalleled opportunity and means for South Africa to simultaneously assert leadership in an increasingly important area of global politics and to address some of its most critical socio-economic problems. Due to its founding member status, the paper suggests that South Africa is uniquely positioned to be able to advocate for and champion reform of the Antarctic Treaty to achieve greater democratization of Antarctic governance. Furthermore, the introduction of a bioprospecting governance framework in the Antarctic commons based on equitable benefit sharing would help reorient South African foreign policy to better meet some of its expressed objectives, and could also generate capital funding revenue for domestic development priorities.

South Africa in the company of giants: the search for leadership in a transforming global order

South Africa, the continental economic giant and self-appointed spokesman for African development, is finding its distinctive national voice. Emboldened by the invitation to join the BRICS grouping, its membership of the G20 and a second term on the UN Security Council, Pretoria is beginning to capitalize on the decade of continental and global activism undertaken by Thabo Mbeki to assume a position of leadership. Gone is the defensive posturing which characterized much of the ANC's post-apartheid foreign policy, replaced by an unashamed claim to African leadership. The result is that South Africa is exercising a stronger hand in continental affairs, ranging from a significant contribution to state-building in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan, to an unprecedented assertiveness on Zimbabwe. But this new assertiveness remains constrained by three factors: the unresolved issue of identity, a host of domestic constraints linked to material capabilities and internal politics, and the divisive continental reaction to South African leadership. These factors continue to inhibit the country's ability to translate its international ambitions and global recognition into a concrete set of foreign policy achievements.

Foreign Policy in Transition: The ANC's Search for a Foreign Policy Direction during South Africa's Transition, 1990–1994

At the beginning of the transition from apartheid to democracy, the African National Congress (ANC) was unprepared for foreign policy discussion, a lack of readiness magnified by the collapse of international Communism and the Cold War ideology. President De Klerk and the National Party controlled foreign policy in the early years of the transition and began the process of reintegration with the international community, The ANC initially struggled to adapt to the new international situation, whereas De Klerk was successful in wooing the international community. In the later stages of transition, the ANC developed a greater sense of direction and substance in foreign relations, although there were differences of opinion among and between the leadership and the rank and file. Already in 1994 there was evidence of tension between idealism and pragmatism. Post-apartheid foreign policy under Mandela was riddled with inconsistencies, which stemmed from the events of South Africa's transition

South Africa’s transformational approach to global governance

South Africa’s post-apartheid foreign policy reveals that transformational global governance considerations have occupied a central place on the Republic’s international radar screen. The Mandela, Mbeki, Motlanthe and Zuma governments have all ambitiously set out to help transform global order from its western-bias and to become more sensitive to the needs and interests of Africa and the global South, while simultaneously championing the idea of a “rules-based” international society. Unilateralist tendencies of major powers have been opposed while South Africa championed active participation in the multilateral domain. One goal was to transform structures and institutions of global governance while another aim was to place developmental goals on the global agenda. As South Africa targeted UN agencies, notably the Security Council, the IMF, World Bank, WTO and more recently the G20, the curious question begs: will South Africa muster the wherewithal to sustain such grand global roles in the years and decades to come?

Foreign Policy Ambiguity on the Part of an Emergent Middle Power: South African Foreign Policy through other Lenses

This paper attempts to address the ambiguity so frequently highlighted in South Africa's post-apartheid foreign policy. Three central arguments are put forward. Firstly, it is argued that traditional accounts of South Africa's foreign policy, utilizing rationalist or ‘mainstream’ theories of International Relations, are insufficient in themselves to explain the complexities inherent in the country's foreign policy. In this regard, constructivist IR theory offers several key insights into studies of South Africa's foreign policy. Secondly, although it is argued that constructivism, particularly its focus on identity, is crucial to understanding South African foreign policy, it alone cannot sufficiently explain its reception or results on the world stage. Finally, it is argued that in order to fully appreciate both the nature and effects of South Africa's foreign policy, a mixed focus, incorporating insights from both constructivist and materialist-based theories of IR, is necessary.

‘We Met the Enemy and He is Us’: Domestic Politics and South Africa’s Role in Promoting African Democracy

South Africa’s post-apartheid foreign policy has disappointed scholars andactivists who expected the post-apartheid state to promote democracy andhuman rights in Africa and the world, and who complain that it has failedto fulfill that promise.This paper examines South Africa’s role in democracy promotion since1994 and, in particular, the argument that it intended to promote rightsand freedoms in Africa but was forced to change its approach by powerrealities on the continent. It finds this explanation wanting and argues thatthe core goal of foreign policy of the post-apartheid government was not topromote democracy, but rather, merely to prove white racism wrong.Since 1994, the African National Congress-led government has been awarethat much of white opinion, at home and abroad, expects majority ruledAfrican societies to fail. Its prime concern, therefore, has been to refute theprejudice that black Africans cannot run successful societies. It is this concernwhich has underpinned foreign policy: the aim has been to projectAfrica as a continent whose states are measuring up to the Northern modelof a successful society. Hence, democracy promotion has been only a meansto that end, and this is the major factor responsible for its uneven andsporadic application.

South Africa in Africa: the post-apartheid era

In this rigorous and policy-relevant title, a diverse group of Pan-African scholars examine South Africa's post-apartheid foreign policy, arguing that an effective foreign policy can only be built on a strong domestic base. The authors assess key challenges of regional leadership for South Africa, addressing traditional issues of leadership, military and economic power, and less conventional foreign policy concerns such as land conflicts and HIV/AIDS. In this case studies the authors describe South Africa's role in developing the AU and NEPAD, and the country's relations with strategic countries in West, Southern, and North Africa, the Great Lakes region, and the Horn of Africa.

The New South Africa confronts Abacha's Nigeria: The politics of human rights in a seminal relationship

The 'new' South Africa's effort to confront and bring pressure to bear on the rights-abusive Nigerian military regime of General Sani Abacha is revisited in this article as a seminal case in a pivotal relationship. The challenge posed by the Abacha regime put to the test two central pillars of post-apartheid foreign policy: the promotion of human rights and democracy; and the commitment to put Africa at the forefront of foreign policy choices. The widely held perception that the government failed to manage this test adequately led to important 'lesson-learning' among South Africa's foreign policy community, and has strongly influenced subsequent policy-making, especially related to human rights. Two sets of analytical lessons are emphasised. The first concerns the complex, identity-based challenge for South Africa of becoming a country of Africa. The second concerns the role and adaptation of the country's civil society in a 'post-liberation' context. Both highlight the protracted challenges of democratic consolidation in the new South Africa.

Trading Spaces: Imagining and Positioning the ‘New’ South Africa within the Regional and Global Economies

The end of apartheid has precipitated rapid rethinking of South Africa's position in relation to the rest of Africa and the global arena. Whereas a substantial literature already exists on the country's evolving post-apartheid foreign policy, this article offers one of the first critical analyses of its emerging external economic relations. Although clearly the economic giant of the Southern African Development Community, South Africa does not perform as well on all economic and social indicators as many people, especially South Africans, believe. South African businesses' perception of, and experiences in, the rest of Africa are assessed in relation to emerging patterns of trade and investment there. Selected advertisements and associated imagery deployed by firms in support of their strategies are analysed in the context of domestic transformation and the opening of new horizons abroad. South African foreign direct invest-ment (FDI) is increasingly diversified, both sectorally and geographically, although large firms dominate the profile. South African-based transnational corporations are also becoming increasingly influential global players. FDI and development aid inflows to South Africa, and in relation to the rest of Africa, are analysed and their implications explored. Far Eastern investment rose fast as part of a growing global inflow until 1997/8; more recent figures are disappointing. This reflects political and security concerns, as well as vulnerability to rapid flow reversal in the increasingly important portfolio investment market.

South Africa’s Post-Apartheid Foreign Policy Towards Africa

Two principal factors have shaped South Africa’s post-apartheid foreign policy towards Africa. First, the termination of apartheid in 1994 allowed South Africa, for the first time in the country’s history, to establish and maintain contacts with African states on equal terms. Second, the end of the Cold War at the end of the 1980s led to a retreat of the West from Africa, particularly in the economic sphere. Consequently, closer cooperation among all African states has become more pertinent to finding African solutions to African problems. Given South Africa’s status as the leading African country in terms of economic prosperity, political stability, and military strength, other African states have placed considerable hope on South Africa’s contribution to socioeconomic and political betterment of the continent. South Africa has consequently become a more attractive partner for African states than ever before.

South Africa's post-apartheid foreign policy five years on - from pariah state to 'just another country'?

Former South African president Nelson Mandela was consistently used as a tool of the Pretoria government's foreign relations. Despite Mandela's moral stature there are limits to the portrayal of South Africa as something special, rather than just another country. There have been failures as well as successes and a pursuit of issues that secure international respectability rather than embody the ethos of the Rainbow Nation. The authors contrast how water or housing policies in South Africa are discussed in the context of their effect on the poor while foreign policy is divorced from such popular considerations.