The Politics Of Economic Power In Southern Africa
This study largely finesses the issue of the dependence of southern African countries on South Africa and deals mainly with domestic politics and economic directions in each southern African country. As a result, what emerges is a series of discrete cases-illuminating as sources of information about the individual countries and bound together chiefly by an argument against overemphasis on regional ties. The authoritative update on the interplay of political and economic forces in southern Africa has yet to be written.
Related
The United States is spreading its aid and efforts too thin in the developing world. It should focus on a small number of "pivotal states": countries whose fate determines the survival and success of the surrounding region and ultimately the stability of the international system. The list should include Mexico, Brazil, Algeria, Egypt, South Africa, Turkey, India, Pakistan, and Indonesia. A discriminating strategy for shoring up the developing world is a wise way to address traditional security threats and new transnational issues; it might be thought of as the new, improved domino theory. If effective, it could forestall the move in Congress to wipe out nearly all foreign aid.
South Africa's political miracle may not be followed by an economic one. Despite its claims of superiority to black governments to the north, the National Party pursued economic policies like most African countries'--import substitution, a wasteful public sector--leading to staggering black unemployment. Only slow private sector growth can lift the black majority out of poverty. But the National Unity government, while avoiding the worst populist temptations, must win citizens over to structural adjustment with gains in education, infrastructure investment, and affirmative action. Of those given little, much is asked.
Southern Africa these days is like a Chinese puzzle. Rhodesia is the first box, exposed on all sides, its lacquer chipped and lusterless. Lift the lid and there is Namibia, waiting its turn. Open up Namibia and South Africa comes into view. Prise the top off South Africa and, a non-Chinese surprise, two boxes lie side by side, one black and the other white. The black box is sealed tight but its shape has been distorted by a series of internal explosions and it no longer rests passively beside its neighbor. The white box also fails to open but that's because it's solid. On it there is an inscription: Afrikaner Nationalism. Therein the muscle and sinew, the visions and the nightmares of Africa's only white tribe are compounded.
