South Africa and the reform of the United Nations Security Council

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: After being sidelined for a number of years, South Africa finds itselfreadmitted to the international community. One of the many issues at stakenow is the reform of the United Nations Security Council. This study looks atSouth Africa's aim to make substantial changes in the international system,with the Security Council being one of the target institutions. This is amammoth task for South Africa and the study points out the challenges thatgo with engaging in this process.The study points out an element of ambiguity in South Africa's foreign policyand the challenges that go with making multilateralism a cornerstone of sucha policy. While it is not yet clear as to whether South Africa will succeed inchanging the behaviour of states and the practice of multilateral institutions, itis at the moment participating in debates that might lead to such changes.South Africa's participation in the Open Ended Working Committee on thereform of the United Nations Security Council constitutes one move amongothers to ensure a change in the practice of the Security Council.The limits of making multilateralism a cornerstone of foreign policy areoutlined with the aim of making policy-makers aware of the implications ofthe broad scope of their ambiguous foreign policy. While it is necessary toavoid engaging in assignments that might be difficult to manage, the need forSouth Africa to focus only on what is achievable and not to try and punchabove its weight is one aspect this paper emphasises. The paper ends bymaking recommendations, which include (among others) that South Africashould attempt to secure a seat in the reformed Security Council should suchan opportunity arise, but only after a careful consideration of her abilities.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University