ABSTRACT
In South Africa, foreign policy obsolescence had very different effects on the government and the leading anti-apartheid movement, the African National Congress (ANC). In terms of South African foreign policy towards Africa, this meant that ANC views were not to be discounted, and at worst were considered only ineffective given the regional hegemony of the minority government. Indeed, the Bush administration's African downgrading agenda hinged on a resolution of 'The South African Question' of how apartheid was to end and when democratic elections might be held. In sum, the Bush administration's focus on South Africa as a part of its African downgrading efforts, and the South African government's efforts to encourage re-engagement with the international community, were congruent: both wanted normalisation as quickly as possible for the sake of realising greater goals.
