South Africa's foreign policy of quiet diplomacy towards Zimbabwe : constructivism as a framework to highlight the contradictory norms of human rights and African solidarity

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:The downward spiral of Zimbabwe under President Robert Gabriel Mugabe and theslide into lawlessness has excited international opinion. Perhaps even morecontroversial, has been South African President Thabo Mbeki's obvious reticence tocondemn Mugabe's increasing authoritarianism and breach of human rights anddemocratic standards. South Africa's foreign policy of 'quiet diplomacy' towardsZimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has received strong criticism. Whilst bothdomestic and international audiences expected South Africa to take a stronger stancetowards Mugabe because of his increasing violation of human rights and democraticstandards, President Mbeki has been notably reticent to publicly criticise Mugabe.Consequently, the South African government has been criticised for condoningMugabe's behaviour, which in turn has raised questions as to South Africa'scommitment to the advocacy of human rights and its attempts to establish a leadershipposition in Africa.Although both internal and external pressures have given rise to South Africa's strongcommitment to the international norm of human rights in 1994, this commitment seemedto weaken as the years passed. The commitment to human rights, that was especiallyprominent during the Nelson Mandela presidency, has given rise to foreign policytensions and contradictions within the South African government. South Africa's turn tomultilateral mechanisms as the main vehicle for South Africa's principled commitment tohuman rights has been accompanied by a decline in the priority placed on this principle.This loss of ardour in the commitment to the human rights advocacy, moreover, hasseemed to increase during the Mbeki presidency. President Mbeki's desire to playaleadership role in Africa and his vision for African renewal and rebirth have beenaccompanied by a stronger emphasis on African solidarity as a foreign policy principle.South Africa's commitment to the norm of human rights, however, has thwarted SouthAfrica's attempts to strengthen African solidarity since it required a rejection of thenorms of 'state sovereignty' and 'not to speak out against each other'. Since high priority is attached to these norms in Africa, contradictions arose between the norms of humanrights advocacy and African solidarity.This study argues that South Africa's policy of 'quiet diplomacy' towards Zimbabwe canonly be understood by focusing on the role of norms and identity on South Africa'spolicy. It aims to illustrate how South Africa's aspiration for continental leadership hasconstrained its commitment to human rights advocacy, as accentuated by theZimbabwean crisis. This study explores the role of norms and identity in South Africa'sforeign policy decisions towards Zimbabwe by drawing on constructivism as atheoretical framework. The international relations theory of constructivism provides aframework for analysing the potential influence of norms in international relations.Constructivism illustrates that South Africa's freedom of action has been determined bythe interplay between policy actors and social forces with very different ideologicalconvictions about the country in the world, the pressures incumbent upon it and theextent to which it can influence world affairs.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University