ABSTRACT
The continued existence of white minority governments in the states of Southern Africa has been both a starkly visible challenge to the independent black states of Africa and an indication of their own low level of political and diplomatic power. The ostensible weakness of Black African states in influencing change in Southern Africa has been analyzed in different ways. Some observers, both within Africa and outside, see the failure as another indication of the neocolonialist patterns that have developed in Africa since independence. The importance of the support that independent African states have given to the liberation movements in Southern Africa is often underestimated. Pan-Africanism of liberation seeks to reduce alien control over African affairs, while Pan-Africanism of integration seeks to encourage Africans to form larger economic communities or wider political federations. Physical distance from the target areas in Southern Africa is the first important factor.
