ABSTRACT

Africa as a bad neighbourhood has proven to be an enduring perception in United States (US) foreign policy, perhaps more so than any other region. Within the administration's overarching foreign policy of enlargement, a key focus became ten 'Big Emerging Markets' (BEMs). Though not seen as alternatives to more traditional markets such as Canada, Japan, and Western Europe, the BEMs were all regarded as critical areas of growth into the twenty-first century. In many ways South Africa's notoriety as the only country in all of Africa to be singled out as a BEM merely confirmed what many Americans thought of the continent: again, Africa was a 'bad neighbourhood'. It is because of this that administration officials found it imperative to blend the rhetoric used to counter neo-realists with the economic and political vision Clinton had brought to the White House. Within southern Africa, US foreign policy makers viewed South Africa as the crown-jewel example of democratic governance and economic practise.