Diplomacy of isolation: South African foreign policy making
- Johannesburg Macmillan South Africa Pub. 1984
- 295 p.
Leadership styles and personalities have always played a crucial role in shaping South Africa's foreign policy.
This penetrating study provides the first in-depth analysis of these and other factors affecting the Republic's relations with the outside world.
Controversial issues are not avoided. Who took the decisions that led to debacles such as the Angolan war and the Information scandal? What did the decision-makers hope to achieve? More recently, concem has been expressed over the role of the military and the security establishment in the formulation of foreign policy. Is this concern justified? In short, who actually makes South Africa's foreign policy? How, where and why is it made? Questions are plentiful, answers
e focus of the book is on the making of South Aca's foreign policy under Prime Ministers Vorster and Botha over the period 1966-1981. It is based on three years of research, a good deal of information having been obtained through personal interviews with the people concerned. One benefit of this approach is a unique insight into the role and influence of the powerful personalities who shape South Africa's destiny.