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This exploratory article is interested in how transnational foreign policy ideas are shaped and institutionalised. One such idea that has re-emerged more prominently since the early 2000s is that of the 'Indo-Pacific' that covers the geoeconomic landscape of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The question is whether such a concept can exist beyond white papers and the current environment of US–China competition. In order to understand how transnational concepts become embedded and promoted, the example of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) – not only as the perceived anti-thesis to the Indo-Pacific but also as a relatively successful concept in Africa–China ties – will be examined. While there is no strict formula for the success of foreign policy ideas that go on to become institutionalised, it is of interest to understand the elements and contexts that bring about concept durability beyond their initial formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building on established scholarship in international relations theory, notably Alexander Wendt's assertion that ‘states are people too’, this paper explores South African foreign policy decisions that are routinely dismissed as being ‘schizophrenic’, and makes two claims: first, that existing scholarship fails to adequately address causal factors of South African foreign policy and, second, that we need to turn to emotions and affect to do so. As such, the theoretical framework adopted for the purposes of the paper treats ‘state-level’ affect as a central explanatory factor, in contrast to established scholarship on emotion theorisation, which treats states as ontologically subordinate to their constituent members and thus subject to the private affects and cognitions of the individuals that make decisions on behalf of the state. Existing literature on collective emotion seems to support the possibility of state emotion. This notion of transsubjective emotionality facilitates the argument that states have emotions too, and that these emotions condition not only identities but also actions in international relations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper assesses the role of the BASIC countries — Brazil, South Africa, India, and China — in UN climate change negotiations. The paper explores the formation and evolution of the group, and focuses on how the four major developing countries of China, India, Brazil, and South Africa have coordinated their positions and acted jointly to achieve an agreed outcome with other players in the recent UN Climate Change Conferences in Copenhagen and Cancun, based on an analysis of their country profiles and negotiation positions on a wide range of climate issues. The paper argues that the emergence of the BASIC Group is a reflection of the ongoing power shift from EU–US agreement to BASIC–US compromise in UN climate negotiations since the early 1990s. The rise of BASIC also has its roots in recent global market dynamics and further reflects the power transformation in the economic dimension of the international system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mexico has the material resources to be considered an emerging power, given the size of its economy, population, geography and other aspects. However, the country has displayed a limited capacity to project leadership, both at the international and at the regional level. Drawing on a number of comparisons with Brazil (the largest economy in Latin America) and other BRICS countries, this paper shows how Mexico has failed to use its existing resources to become more influential in multilateral institutions, particularly within the United Nations. This paper argues that not only Mexican diplomats but also the economic and political elites in the country have been reluctant for the country to act as an emerging power on the world stage. Unlike Brazil, with its strong international identity, Mexico is conditioned by its proximity to and economic dependence on the US. It has failed to position itself as a bridge between the South and the North and it has lacked a coherent long-term foreign policy. In addition, a weak Secretariat of Foreign Affairs and a poorly coordinated, decentralised diplomatic corps with insufficient personnel and resources have also undermined Mexico's international performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the application of the non-interference principle in the context of China’s security policy in Africa, to determine the extent to which we are witnessing an evolution in the application of this principle. Indeed, as seen with the recent opening of the military base in Djibouti or with China’s contribution to peace talks in South Sudan, it would appear that the non-intervention principle is undergoing a course reversal. This paper will argue that, in spite of these apparent shifts, there has been no fundamental change to the application of this principle. To make this point, this article applies Ren’s typology, which characterises three levels of nuance in the forms that the application of non-interference has taken in practice. This typology is then applied in a comparative manner across the four following components of China’s security policy in Africa: peacekeeping operations; military cooperation; naval power projection; and crisis management mediation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Science, technology and innovation (STI) policy is increasingly part of global politics. This article develops the argument that the governance of STI policy shifted with South Africa's transition to democracy and its re-integration into the international system. The traditionally inward oriented policy field has undergone a shift in governance towards internationalisation. This paper assesses these changes and their impact on South Africa's policymaking processes. The discussion seeks to span two disciplines, international relations and economic research on innovation, recognising the role of intergovernmental organisations (IGOs) in domestic STI policymaking. We argue that the relationship between IGOs and national governments is two-sided and changes over time. The case of the South African government shows how it changed from the receiving end of the policy advice from IGOs towards an active force in shaping the international system with regard to STI, and pursuit of its own interests through spreading and setting up international norms. We hypothesise that these changes result from increasing governance capability and policy learning. These relationships between national and international actors and the role of international organisations in domestic STI policy formulation will be disentangled in this paper presenting two main findings. Firstly, the analysis of the global governance architecture in STI shows that international legalisation in STI has changed towards soft law mechanisms. In the early days of STI, international organisations focused mainly on regulating intellectual property rights (IPR), while today various UN agencies, OECD committees and Bretton Woods institutions seek to influence governments through rankings, reviews, policy advice, performance measurement, data collection and periodical surveillance. Secondly, during its process of reintegration into the international political system, the South African government demonstrated an evolution from exclusively receiving IGO's policy advice to increasingly becoming an initiator of international policy platforms in STI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the prospects and problems of Nigeria's aspiration for a seat on an enlarged UN Security Council. Some of the factors that strengthen the country's candidacy include its past experience, e.g. its service as a non-permanent member of the Security Council for three terms, its impressive peacekeeping profile at multilateral and bilateral levels, and its unparalleled African leadership role. The return of the country to the path of democracy after years of successive military regimes has also increased its legitimacy in international affairs. If these credentials are to yield the desired result, the country must contend with the worsening state of national security, the slow pace of economic recovery despite ongoing reforms, the challenges posed by other serious African contenders particularly Egypt and South Africa, and Nigeria's continuing image problem, despite advances in the struggle to address it. This is the paradox for Nigeria's candidacy of the Security Council Seat. The paper concludes with recommendations to address these challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A common observation regarding the Mandela Administration's foreign policy is that South Africa adopted an approach to peacemaking that drew on its own recent and unique negotiated transition. While ubiquitous, this observation has rarely been seriously examined. This paper undertakes such an examination through the use of psychological theories of decision making, which explore the formative impact that a leader's domestic rise to power has on the foreign policy predilections of that leader. These theories provide a powerful link that supports the oft stated, but poorly articulated, connection between South Africa's transition and its regional peacemaking efforts. The paper then surveys the most salient lessons learned by President Mandela during South Africa's transitional negotiations and explores whether these lessons affected South Africa's regional peacemaking efforts. This analysis indicates that both Mandela's inclination to negotiate, and the style in which he did so, were directly informed by South Africa's own negotiated transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper adopts a Nigerian perspective to South Africa's position in global economic governance, particularly in relation to its role in the BRICS and G20. It is informed by the challenge of transforming Africa's current marginal role in global economic governance, and the kind(s) of regional partnerships that Africa's largest economies can strategically develop and use to place the continent on a higher economic pedestal globally. The paper places challenges confronting Africa in context, exploring how South Africa, by negotiating a strategic partnership with other continental economic powers outside of the BRICS, such as Nigeria, stands to leverage Africa's role and global position on a ‘win–win’ basis. It concludes by noting the costs and potential benefits of such a partnership, and offers some suggestions on the way forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As questions concerning international development climb the international agenda, so countries find themselves drawn into a burgeoning number of negotiations on issues ranging from the future shape and direction of the post-2015 development agenda to ‘aid effectiveness’ and international development cooperation. Moving from the position of a ‘beneficiary’ state in the traditional donor–recipient aid hierarchy, South Africa is looking to define its own niche within the wider development diplomacy context as a development partner. This paper provides an assessment of South Africa's evolving approach towards international development cooperation, with a particular focus on trilateral development cooperation, and what this means for Pretoria's foreign policy in bridging the divide between developed and developing country positions within the international development regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the years, the logic that decentralisation is the territorial twin of democracy has been employed in the domain of foreign policy to advocate for the transfer of international relations prerogatives to subnational governments (SNGs). Proponents of this argument contend that, because of the proximity of SNGs to local communities, the territorial decentralisation of elements of foreign policy, or paradiplomacy, has the potential to engender greater citizen awareness, interest and participation in international affairs, and thus contribute to the democratisation of foreign policy. This paper draws insight from the paradiplomacy of three South African provinces to assess the extent to which the foreign relations of provincial governments represent a model process that contributes to the democratisation of foreign policy. It argues that, in the absence of effective mechanisms to promote meaningful deliberation, accountability, transparency and representation in the provinces, paradiplomacy has done little more than encourage the monopolisation by subnational elites of the few foreign policy prerogatives that Pretoria has transferred to provincial governments. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article examines South Africa's engagement with the rest of the African continent in the realm of peace and security since 1994. It notes that despite expectations from the international community as well as its own policy documents that South Africa would promote human rights on the continent, this has not occurred in a substantial manner. Pretoria has been naive in its mediation attempts, or worse. Pretoria's ambiguous position in relation to human rights is not only a product of domestic variables but also its own lack of capacity, especially on the military front. These domestic constraints are reinforced at a regional level where structures like the African Standby Forces are little more than 'paper tigers'. This serves to reinforce the status quo, ultimately undermining human security and escalating prospects for future conflict. At the same time the article does point to some positive developments arising from the Zuma administration in its engagement on the African continent in its efforts to secure human security for Africa's citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

President Thabo Mbeki's resignation in September 2008 six months before the expected end of his term was triggered by the recall issued by the ANC National Executive Committee. It is highly unlikely that any major changes in foreign policy will be made by the caretaker government of President Kgalema Motlanthe before the 2009 elections. However, the significant changes in the domestic political environment signal the start of a new era in South Africa's transformation — what might be called the 'post post-apartheid period'. This paper explores what those changes might entail, especially in the realm of foreign policy. After reflecting on the legacy of Mbeki's foreign policy, the paper considers the potential implications of the relevant resolutions agreed at the December 2007 ANC National Conference in Polokwane. Constraints on South African foreign policy towards the African continent are considered, especially with regard to perception versus reality of its economic and political hegemony as well as its complex identity as a nation. In light of this analysis and the inevitable impact of the current global economic crisis, the paper concludes with a series of recommendations for a new vision and agenda for South Africa's foreign policy under the government to be elected in 2009. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conflicts often emanate when one society tries to enforce its own culture on others. Cultural diplomacy, as a form of diplomacy, is often an integral part of diplomatic activities of almost all states to alleviate cultural clashes and to assist cultural institutions in the dissemination of national culture. In practice, the under-deployment of cultural diplomacy very often results from false perceptions about its activities. The aim of this paper is to conceptualise the term ‘cultural diplomacy', provide a short history of its development, sketch its major functions and evaluate its importance in the process of foreign policy implementation. South Africa should diversify its diplomatic tools more effectively. Cultural diplomacy should receive more prominence by the practitioners of diplomacy and could serve as a useful means for the implementation of South African interests abroad. It could promote favourable conditions as a precursor for the effective achievement of the country's foreign policy goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With South Africa having declared itself a developmental state, this paper posits that if a developmental state is one that drives development, then the foreign policy of such a state should pursue development as one of its most important goals. Similarly the diplomatic corps of such a state should prioritise economic, commercial, para- and public diplomacy as drivers of diplomacy. In answering the question, ‘What should be the foreign policy and diplomatic attributes of a developmental state?’, the authors, through an exploratory approach, seek to analyse how well the state has fared in achieving this objective. To be a successful developmental state, a strategic capacity should exist and a clear strategic conception of the state's national interest should be formulated. Old paradigms about the role and functions of the diplomatic corps are challenged and a meritocratic diplomatic corps is strongly advocated to support the state's declared developmental goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peacekeeping has grown in significance over the years within international relations, yet only a few analyses have applied the frameworks of international relations theory to the issues of peacekeeping. This paper begins with a view to broaden that analysis, and to look at three of the African countries that have contributed significant resources over the years to help restore peace on their continent: Nigeria, Ethiopia and Rwanda. The following article analyses these three countries (and not South Africa, which features a great deal already in the literature) from the point of view of their military capabilities, including sources of training and equipment, after assessing the motivations, challenges and opportunities of each to contribute to peacekeeping in Africa. From that basis, the article assesses the positive and negative impacts these militaries bring to the region's conflicts, as well as the impact of their troops for the sending nations. Lastly, the article assesses the concept of ‘African solutions to African problems’, and argues that this proposition, while worth pursuing, is not a realistic one for peacekeeping and peacebuilding efforts on the continent in the short term, mainly owing to funding and equipment restraints. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Sub-Saharan African economies have been exposed to major global changes, in particular a long cycle of increase in commodity prices since the early-2000s, the growth of emerging countries, which are key drivers of high commodity prices and have become significant trade and investment partners, and since 2008, recession in their traditional export markets. These changes may generate structural transformation, hence requiring a reconceptualisation of the integration of Sub-Saharan Africa into the world economy. China is a major trade partner and investor in commodities, industrial sectors and infrastructures in Sub-Saharan Africa. Will this trade and investment pattern preserve the status quo and entrenchment of market and export structures characterised by the pre-eminence of commodities? Or, in improving governments' fiscal space, will it foster opportunities for structural change? It is argued that it is the presence of ‘developmental’ political economies that, in the end, creates opportunities for diversification, industrialisation and structural transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The United States pictured a bright future with a strategic country when the new South African government took power in 1994. They envisioned a strong partnership in political, economic and security realms. The bilateral relationship did not turn out to be as easy as many in America might have envisioned. Despite notable camaraderie during the Mandela–Clinton administrations, there was a considerable downward swing in US–South African relations during the Bush administration. This situation has since appeared to reverse itself during the current Obama and Zuma administrations. This paper, through the lens of ‘asymmetry theory’ as developed by Brantly Womack, seeks to shed light on how a rollercoaster relationship such as this can go through such fluctuations and not end in extreme tension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The South African state considers its foreign relations as a means to an end. That end – the national interest – is articulated as developing the economy to address issues of poverty and underdevelopment inherited from years of oppressive and exploitative 'foreign' rule, and eventually to 'build a better South Africa, in a better and safer world'. This article draws on IR theories of ontological security to explore how the South African state arrived at articulating this national interest by first looking at the ways in which historic relationships with states of the Global North have shaped the South African identity, and then asking to what extent South Africa expects states of the North to contribute toward the achievement of this goal as a form of restitution for the perceived injustices of the age of European imperialism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many who have admired the African National Congress are confused and dismayed by post-apartheid South Africa's foreign policy on human rights and good governance, exemplified by its most important policy test to date, viz. Zimbabwe. It is argued below that understanding this policy in terms of the widely-used explanation that it represents 'a shift from idealism to realism' is unsatisfactory. This state-centric framework, focused on 'national' interests and ideals cannot accommodate the wide range of interests, ideals, and other factors that shape the policy. Instead, this investigation assumes that all foreign policies involve a close interaction between 'realism' (interest-driven analysis) and 'idealism' (beliefs/values-driven analysis). In addition to exploring this interaction, this paper also touches briefly and tentatively on the following questions: how well has South Africa's foreign policy been calculated and implemented, and what have been its effects and consequences for South Africa, Zimbabwe, and the 'progressive' international norms to which both South Africa and many of its critics subscribe. A subsidiary aim is to clarify some misunderstandings between South Africa and the West that frequently lead to their 'talking past each other' on this, and other, issues of human rights and good governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For most democracies across the world, legislative engagement in foreign policy development has traditionally been limited to ratification of international agreements and oversight of the executive. While the Parliament of South Africa tends to adhere to this traditional approach, deferring to the executive on matters of foreign policy, this paper argues that a collaborative approach between the legislative and executive branches as articulated in the South African constitution must rather form the basis of South Africa's foreign policy development process. Moreover, by comparing the parliament of South Africa, a legislature with limited policy influence, to the United States' Congress, a policy making legislature, it becomes clear from Congress that political will in employing constitutional power is the most important factor in ensuring legislative engagement in foreign policy decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Africa's contemporary foreign policy cannot be understood outside an explanation of its post-apartheid political transition. Its actors, the ideas they express, the interests they represent and the institutions they craft are all crucially influenced and impacted upon by the democratic transition and how it has evolved. This democratic transition is defined by two foundational characteristics. First, as one of the last of the 'anti-colonial' transitions led by an African nationalist leadership, it is driven with a focus on achieving racial equality in both the domestic and global context. Second, the transition has occurred when a particular configuration of power prevailed in the global order that not only established the parameters which governed its evolution, but also determined which interests prevailed within it. The former's imprint on the foreign policy agenda is manifested in South Africa's prioritisation of Africa, its almost messianic zeal to modernise the continent through a focus on political stability and economic growth, and its desire to reform the global order so as to create an enabling environment for African development. It is also reflected in South Africa's insistence not to be seen to be dictated to by the West, especially in the fashioning of its economic policies and its approach to addressing the Zimbabwean question. The latter manifests itself not only in how corporate interests take centre stage in South Africa's foreign policy interactions, but also in how transnational alliances like India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) are being fashioned to challenge big powers and their interests in global forums and in the international system. These thematic concerns are the subject of investigation in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the practice of international relations, states can pursue different combinations of foreign policy strategies at different systemic levels. The positions of Southern regional powers such as Brazil, on the one hand, between the centre and periphery of the current world system and, on the other hand, at the nexus of international and regional politics, demand particularly complex foreign policy strategies. Strategic approaches have to consider at least three contextual factors: firstly, the continuing superiority of established (the United States) and emerging (China) global actors in terms of material power; secondly, the fact that regional and global affairs are increasingly interrelated; and thirdly, the fact that foreign policy strategies are mapped out against the background of an international system moving from a unipolar to a multipolar order. I argue that Southern regions and their leaders will play a pivotal part in the course of that global transformation as well as in the future world order. The purpose of this paper is to discuss Brazil's strategic foreign policy options after unipolarity. To approach this task, a top-down approach starting at the global level seems most promising. First, I will discuss the potential transformation of the international system and the middle-power role of Brazil in the course of that process, especially with regard to its role in the G3, or India, Brazil and South Africa. Second, I will locate Brazil in its region, analyse its relations with secondary power Venezuela, and ask for strategic options at the regional level. Third, the conclusion will stress the increasing interrelatedness of global and regional affairs, pointing out strategies applied by Brazil in order to become a decision maker in a future multipolar world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the extent to which South Africa's policy towards Zimbabwe under the Mbeki administration was shaped by economic and commercial considerations. Given the extensive involvement and growing influence of the South African business sector in Zimbabwe, the potential link between the South African government's policy stance towards Zimbabwe and South Africa's commercial interests in Zimbabwe is intuitively appealing. This paper argues, however, that although South African firms have exploited the commercial opportunities that have emerged from the political and economic crises in Zimbabwe, it is not clear from the available evidence if commercial interests have been a primary consideration in South Africa's policy towards Zimbabwe. It concludes that the Mbeki government's policy of 'quiet diplomacy' towards Zimbabwe was not principally shaped by economic objectives, but was instead driven predominantly by political and ideological concerns, which related closely to perceptions about South Africa's role on the African continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the practicability of Ubuntu in public policy, in particular the domain that concerns South Africa's external relations. The authors contend that advancing Ubuntu in a world that is increasingly fractured along identity lines, marked by anxiety and characterised by realism and interplays of power is an ideal worth pursuing. This article shows that there is dissonance in South Africa in the rhetoric that champions Ubuntu and the actual policy practice in crucial dimensions. The authors not only set out to mark the contours of the disjuncture between the rhetoric of Ubuntu and its application in both public policy and foreign policy, but also make a case for advancing Ubuntu as an integral part of public policy and a standard against which to measure success. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Emerging powers are credited with influencing development cooperation, but field-based studies incorporating the viewpoints of recipient developing country actors are scarce. This article analyses the presence and the material, ideational and institutional influence of assistance in agriculture and food security in Malawi by the governments of Brazil, India, China and South Africa. The findings suggest first that, despite a similar and powerful discourse linking these four states, in practice the emerging powers' approaches diverge to a large extent. Second, the material influence of these emerging powers is relatively limited and consequently so is their influence on Malawi's decision-making process with regard to development. Finally, perceptions about the emerging powers' potential contribution to addressing development challenges differ greatly between the Malawian government and the traditional donor community. This difference arises from limited coordination and cooperation on the one hand and the importance of ideational influence on the other. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article examines the role of sub-state diplomacy, defined as the transnational linkages of sub-national governments, in bridging the gap between foreign policy and the domestic development agenda in South Africa. It argues that, as territorial sub-state actors, provinces and municipalities are strategically positioned to use their international relations to make foreign policy more responsive to domestic socio-economic priorities. In the South African case, however, this potential is yet to be fully realised, mainly because of institutional fragmentation of the foreign policy apparatus, but also owing to enduring challenges in the foreign activities of sub-national governments. The article concludes by making the case for a new diplomatic paradigm in South Africa, one that actively promotes and harnesses the foreign activities and capacities of different national stakeholders, including those of sub-national governments, in the interest of the domestic development agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

South Africa and the European Union (EU) have a longstanding relationship. Their interaction has evolved through various phases, characterised simultaneously by ambitious partnerships coupled with a degree of wariness. As international dynamics change and Africa becomes an increasingly crucial player in global politics, the relationship between the EU and South Africa exerts a host of influences on how Africa and Europe relate to each other. This article discusses the evolution of EU–South Africa relations and highlights direct and indirect influences that this relationship has on the inter-regional partnership between Africa and Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the current constructs which theoretically underpin foreign policy for this country are either overblown or incoherent; they do not appropriately define or advance or prioritise South Africa's national interests abroad, nor do they acknowledge the tensions embedded in the clash between normative policies andrealpolitik. Drawing from ‘real time’ experiences in international diplomacy, this lecture explores some of the dilemmas that South Africa, as a middle-range power in the world, confronts in its international engagements. The cost-effectiveness of South Africa's global projection is also examined, and some practical reforms to achieve better results in the current age of austerity suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gambia's foreign policy on Senegal under the presidency of Yahya AJJ Jammeh (1996–2016) is the focus of this article. The study relied on speeches, statements and communiqués as its source of data for analysis. Using constructivism as a general theory and discourse analysis as a framework of analysis, the work argues that the Gambia's foreign policy towards its neighbour was built upon two main social constructs, namely 'two states, one people' and 'next-door enemy'. Despite changes in the leadership in Senegal, it is argued that the Gambian leadership consistently constructed Senegal in the same way during this period. The article concludes that these two constructs explain the often contradictory relationship between the two countries. While the 'two states, one people' construct was used to argue for and build cordial relationships, 'the next-door enemy' construct was invoked to condemn Senegal and justify strained relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

References to African heads of government in broadcast news in the United States provides one framework through which the US news audience can better learn about African politics – and arguably one which is less fraught with potential misperceptions than news frames emphasising conflict and underdevelopment. This article reports the findings of a content analysis of various broadcast news programmes in the US over the period 2003–2020, with a view to the impact of that coverage on US foreign policy on Africa. What it reveals is that of the six broadcast news programmes in the study, only three – NPR's All Things Considered, CNN Newsroom and PBS NewsHour – made significant mention of African heads of government, and Egyptian and South African heads of government received disproportionate attention. The proposed result of such skewed news coverage is an impoverished US public opinion, with implications for US foreign policymaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Africa is increasingly burdened by the continuing crisis in neighbouring Zimbabwe. This article asks the following question: what can South Africa do to resolve the situation, in the face of her weakened regional hegemonic status and the intransigence of a securocratic state in Harare? Tracing foreign policy approaches of the Mandela, Mbeki and Zuma administrations, the article argues that each failed in Zimbabwe because of the focus on symptomatic problems rather than on systemic state-building challenges. In particular, South Africa has been hindered by policymakers' respect for state sovereignty, and state securitisation. There is an urgent need for an innovative intervention to forge state-building in Zimbabwe. The article outlines how a coordinated approach with the development agencies of the BRICS member states (Brazil, Russian, India, China and South Africa), through their expansive resources and varied expertise, could effectively support state-building in Zimbabwe based on cooperative hegemony. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the relationship between South Africa (SA) and the United Kingdom (UK) in the post-Brexit era. An overview of the history of the SA-UK relationship until the negotiation of the SACU + M-UK agreement in 2019 is provided. At least two scenarios in a post-Brexit UK-European Union trade relationship are analysed and their implications for SA-UK relations are discussed. The article explores the question: will the post-Brexit period be characterised by an increasingly aggressive Britain striving to re-assert its power in the world, or shall the world see a new idealist Britain seeking to increase cooperation in its own region and globally? The article argues that South Africa should expect the first scenario but also prepare to influence the UK towards the second scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses how global governance networks contest, influence, and shape the Group of Twenty (G20) forum through the latter's growing inclusivity practices, with important effects on global economic governance norms and practices. These transnational networks include public, intergovernmental, private, and civil society actors that interact through professional 'ecologies.' Some network actors participate in the G20's official engagement forums, others contribute to G20 policy formulation and implementation in other ways, including member-state representatives and officials from international institutions. The research includes evidence from participant observation, semi-structured interviews, public statements, and document analysis, deploying analytical tools from social constructivism, discourse analysis, and the sociology of professions. It examines G20 policy-shaping capacities of global governance networks, especially on macroprudential financial regulation, sustainable economic growth, and sustainable development. The research finds that governance networks have contributed significantly to decentralising global governance authority by diversifying its actors since the 2008 financial crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An analysis of the Group of 20 (G20) agenda with reference to Africa reveals that the region has received mixed attention across presidencies, underpinned by broad partnership initiatives such as the G20 Africa Partnership (Hamburg Summit). Calling for enhanced and concretised African engagement in G20 processes, this article analyses the potential collective agency of Africa in the G20 shaped by interactions with a range of actors, processes and the specific political and historical contexts that have framed its role and identity in relationship with the G20. Through a relational view of global governance, two case studies provide valuable insights into nascent understandings of the disposition and emergence of African agency in the G20, namely the Africa Global Partnership Platform (AGPP) and the Think 20 Africa Standing Group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The G20 has two distinctive features that make it a unique forum in global politics. First, it is one of the few existing global platforms where different international institutions and regional organisations can coordinate across a vast array of issue areas and emergent policy fields. Second, it is an institution that brings together heads of government which control roughly 80% of world GDP. Despite these features, the G20 lacks constitutive authority of its own, bound by a consensus principle which sharply delimits its scope of action. Notwithstanding its circumspect authority, no recent international body has garnered more attention from transnational civil society groups and advocacy networks than the G20. Most of this attention is critical and points to legitimacy problems. We argue that these legitimacy problems derive from a perception of untapped potential and undue privilege for great powers. Against this backdrop, we submit that a more active and institutionalised forum – with clear decision-making procedures for exercising authority – could help mitigate resistance and contribute to a more legitimate global governance system overall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article assesses the foreign policy and intervention roles of Nigeria and South Africa in Africa, given their status as regional powers, and the regional complexes within which they operate. Drawing references from a plethora of conflicts in which these two states have intervened, this article argues that structural realism, given its emphasis on the material structure of power and the pursuit of relative gains, is useful as a theoretical framework in this assessment. The article makes a contribution to the literature by illustrating the value of structural realism as an international relations (IR) approach within which the intervention behaviour of these two African states can be analysed. The author acknowledges that while structural realism points to the fact that the pursuit of relative gains may be behind the normatively-clad role conceptions of states, foreign policy cannot be reduced to the pursuit of relative power alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current dispensation of civilian rule in Nigeria (1999-present), her subnational governments (SNGs) have increasingly been engaging in economic activities which impact on how Nigeria conducts her international economic interactions. This emerging trend is at variance with the existing legal provisions under the 1999 Nigerian Constitution, which preclude SNGs from this policy space. This article examines the evolution of the constitutional framework for SNG involvement in Nigeria’s foreign economic relations since independence. It is the argument in this article that the exclusion of SNGs from foreign affairs under the 1999 Constitution is a departure from the original configuration at independence. It is further argued that the recent episodes of SNG involvement in international economic activities are occurring despite the constitutional restrictions owing to external factors such as globalisation and internal factors such the growing need among SNGs to find alternative ways to fund their economic development objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is widely recognised that leadership influences relations between neighbouring states in international affairs. This article seeks to further illuminate the relationship between leadership idiosyncrasies and the nature of Ghana’s neighbour relations under Presidents Rawlings and Kufuor. The argument is that, while political institutionalisation and the international environment may influence neighbour relations to some degree, leader idiosyncrasy is an important intervening variable. Indeed, based on the findings, the international environment may have had less influence on Ghana’s neighbour relations in the period under study (1981-2008) than conventional wisdom suggests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What role do regional powers Brazil and South Africa play in democracy promotion in their respective regions, South America and Africa? While both Brazil and South Africa played an important role in building regional institutions’ normative frameworks for democracy promotion, most notably within the Union of South American Nations and the African Union, their leadership applying these frameworks within regional organisations is inconsistent. South Africa is trapped between regional and global expectations; Brazil’s leadership lacks commitment. The interplay of domestic, regional and international politics needs to be scrutinised to explain why South African and Brazilian regional leadership falls behind expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate clubs emerged as a concept to revitalise the international climate change negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and mitigate the free-riding problem. The underlying idea suggests that countries committed to reducing emissions can advance a stable coalition in the form of a club with other countries. As a result, more countries would put forth targets for more ambitious emissions reductions. This article analyses South Africa’s memberships in current climate related clubs. We contextualise South African climate club governance in its wider geopolitical and national context of low-carbon development. The purpose of the analysis is to identify if and how South Africa can possibly contribute to advancing ambition for change within climate clubs. Furthermore, it advances ideas about possible design options for climate clubs that may appeal to developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although South Africa led the UN to adopt its first resolution on sexual orientation in 2011, in recent years, South Africa has made various sharp foreign policy reversals on issues related to sexual orientation and human rights. This article discusses five such policymaking episodes over the period 2010–2016 and considers the wider implications of South Africa's flip-flopping. For one, South Africa's recent behaviour on international sexual orientation issues suggests that the foreign policymaking environment in South Africa is weak, unstructured and porous. Moreover, the sexual orientation issue exposes the limited scope South Africa has to act as a representative of Africa, as a leader in the developing world and as a bridge-building middle power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the dynamics of the relationship between Nigeria and South Africa, arguably the two most prominent states on the African continent. Each of the two states continues to make attempts at extending its hegemony beyond its respective sub-region to emerge as Africa’s foremost state. These efforts are not pursued in isolation, but affect their bilateral relations and are tied to the guiding principles of the national interest. Through data gathered from secondary sources, we analyse the trajectory of the relationship between Nigeria and South Africa, from the intensely politically contentious to the strongest of warm relations. In the final analysis, the article concludes that collaboration and competition are critical variables in the conduct of inter-state relations. Nigeria and South Africa have an historic opportunity to collaborate in the current period, in order to promote the general interest of the African continent in the international system. Will their respective pursuit of their own national interests encourage, or derail, this role? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Burkina Faso and Taiwan restored official relations in 1994, after which Taipei's aid has been generous. Taiwan's approach to official development assistance has remained largely traditional, closely linking its public diplomacy to its foreign policy objectives. Trade between both countries has remained very modest. In the same period, because of mainland China's rise and active strategy of ‘going out’, Burkina Faso has developed a robust trade and business relationship with China. As a result, the pull to establish official ties with China (and thus end ties with Taiwan) has become a domestic political issue. After the ousting of President Blaise Compaoré in 2014, a failed coup and then the return to democracy as seen in the November 2015 elections, this debate has become more public. While Burkina Faso has remained faithful to Taiwan and continues to publicly appreciate its assistance, there is no certainty that the political values that both Burkina Faso and Taiwan share will prevent a Burkinabe move towards China. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Kenya matters regionally and globally. It is the economic powerhouse of East Africa and a long-standing hub for multilateral diplomacy; its positioning in a turbulent region has fashioned its profile as an anchor state in African peace and security. Until recently, Kenya's foreign policy orientation has situated it as a benign regional leader, but pressing developments in the regional and international environments have edged it towards a more assertive foreign policy position. This study constitutes a multilevel review of Kenya's foreign policy in the period 1963–2015, beginning with Jomo Kenyatta through to the current president, Uhuru Kenyatta. After evaluating contexts pertinent to the analysis of Kenya’s foreign policy, the fundamental principles, objectives and pillars of the current foreign policy are unpacked. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The self-appointed role of good international citizen that South Africa has played since 1994 is the external corollary of its supposed good governance at home. Weaknesses in domestic governance have, however, been evident since early in the life of democratic South Africa. These problems have become more acute, and internal dissatisfaction with and external awareness of ‘poor service delivery’ in South Africa have grown since 2009 when Jacob Zuma became president. The article illustrates that South Africa fails to meet core criteria of good governance and considers the implications of weak governance for the Republic's good international citizenship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diplomatic relations between Russia and South Africa were established in 1992, before South Africa's transition to democracy was completed. This move was perceived as a betrayal by many in both countries and beyond. For many decades the Soviet Union supported the African National Congress in its fight against the apartheid regime. South Africa's National Party government, in its turn, presented the USSR as the main force behind the ‘total onslaught’ – an all-out war purportedly waged against South Africa by international communism. Yet it was with the National Party government that the Russians established diplomatic relations. This article looks into the reasons for this change of heart in Moscow and Pretoria, discusses the political forces behind the decision to establish diplomatic relations, and analyses the process that led to this event and the results of establishing diplomatic relations the way it happened and at the time it happened for both countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]