Internasionale isolasie: Suid-Afrika in vergelykende perspektief
educational resource
posted on 2024-11-18, 15:33authored byInaugural addresses
Inaugural lecture--Department of Political Science, Rand Afrikaans University, 29 October 1985@@The main objective of the presentation is to analyse and explain the nature and extent of South Africa's international isolation. This is done through a dual comparison:
on the one hand, South Africa is compared with other isolated states and, on the other, with "normal" or integrated states.
There are several historical and contemporary examples of states that isolate themselves and of others that are forced into isolation. In the first section, the study deals briefly with states that have opted for voluntary isolation, viz. the USA, Britain, Japan, China, Burma, Bhutan, Nepal, Albania and a few others.
The second and most important section focuses on enforced isolation. Countries
that are ostracised by the international community, are popularly known as pariah states. Four basic areas of isolation -diplomatic, economic, military and socio-cultural -are distinguished. In each of these a number of specific indicators
of isolation are proposed, enabling one to measure the extent of isolation.
South Africa, Israel, Taiwan and Chile are today commonly regarded as the primary
examples of pariah states. In this presentation, only South Africa's isolation
will be examined in any detail. The discussion of the other three cases should nonetheless be adequate to gain a reasonable understanding of their present isolation.
In dealing with South Africa's isolation, aspects of voluntary isolation are first considered, before examining the Republic's current enforced isolation.
When all the indicators of isolation are taken into account, South Africa appears to be far more isolated than either Israel or Chile. The closest modern analogy to South Africa is Taiwan, which is in some respects more and in others less isolated
than the Republic. South Africa however differs from Taiwan as well as from Israel and Chile in the sense that its isolation is combined with far more intense international pressure and other punitive measures than experienced by any of them. There is also a far stronger pro-isolation lobby within South Africa, than in any of the other three states.
History
Date of creation
2009-03-05
Date submitted to repository
1985-10-29
Copyright information
University of Johannesburg
Original repository
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Language Translation
International isolation: South Africa in comparative perspective