South Africa's post-apartheid foreign policy: from reconciliation to ambiguity?1

This article focuses on South Africa's rehabilitation from international pariah status during the apartheid years to its de facto status as leader of the African continent. Its ambitious foreign policy agenda and the pan-African revivalism of Mbeki are discussed in the context of the many constraints (the need to attract foreign investment, limited institutional capacity, ambiguities over the nature of South Africa's identity) that circumscribe its capacity to achieve these goals. While under Mandela South Africa is portrayed in foreign policy terms as an over-stretched state striving to meet the idealistic demands placed upon it by a fragile world, Mbeki's pragmatism and moderation has seen South Africa recast its role in a manner more commensurate with its size and resources. The primary aims of the Mbeki presidency are seen as a reshaping of current international norms, institutions and processes to further global justice for Africa and the South. This paper draws on previous research, which has culminated in an Adelphi Paper of the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).