Peacemaking from the inside out

A common observation regarding the Mandela Administration's foreign policy is that South Africa adopted an approach to peacemaking that drew on its own recent and unique negotiated transition. While ubiquitous, this observation has rarely been seriously examined. This paper undertakes such an examination through the use of psychological theories of decision making, which explore the formative impact that a leader's domestic rise to power has on the foreign policy predilections of that leader. These theories provide a powerful link that supports the oft stated, but poorly articulated, connection between South Africa's transition and its regional peacemaking efforts. The paper then surveys the most salient lessons learned by President Mandela during South Africa's transitional negotiations and explores whether these lessons affected South Africa's regional peacemaking efforts. This analysis indicates that both Mandela's inclination to negotiate, and the style in which he did so, were directly informed by South Africa's own negotiated transition

Conflict resolution · Peacemaking · Political economy · Political science · Sociology · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · International Development and Aid · Law · Peacebuilding and International Security · Public Administration

• Re-Evaluating South African Foreign Policy Decision-Making

  Christopher Williams•Politikon•2021

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