ABSTRACT
The flux period in US and South African foreign policies towards Africa started very differently for each country's policy makers. Whereas US foreign policy towards Africa during the flux period had started with a systematic effort to disengage from the continent, for South African foreign policy towards Africa the flux period started with indiscriminate re-engagement. During the flux period sn US and South African foreign policies towards Africa, South African pursuits with regard to the continent hardly registered with American policy makers, and vice versa. In Washington, this was because the flux period opened with the intentional marginalisation of Africa as a part of the Bush administration's triage strategy. US and South African foreign policies towards Africa had to gain a focus, and did, albeit the associated focus period was to present its own inherent difficulties and dilemmas.
