South Africa's Multilateral Diplomacy and Global Change

Book excerpt: Post-apartheid South Africa's foreign policy has accepted a range of leadership responsibilities within multilateral institutions. This text assesses how, in these various leadership capacities, South Africa has been able to punch above its weight diplomatically. Pretoria's intervention or support for a particular position has sometimes been crucial in breaking a deadlock or securing the co-operation of others. South Africa has also used its profile to act as a voice for the vunerable, smaller states in world affairs. Based on their assessment of globalization as a process that holds some benefits, but also many dangers, for developing countries, both the Mandela and Mbeki persidencies have used multilateral forums to push for a greater say by developing countries in global governance. This position seems to indicate a reformist tendency in South African foreign policy. This book examines whether Pretoria's multilateral diplomacy contributes to global transformation, or whether South Africa's policies help maintain a fundamentally flawed global order.