ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the regional, domestic, political and economic developments which have informed Lesotho's foreign policy of survival in a 'rough neighbourhood'. It demonstrates that in the circumstances of shifts in the global balance of power, the end of apartheid in South Africa, and the advent of democratisa-tion in the region, Lesotho have found its ability to formulate independent foreign policy severely constrained. The chapter provides a brief historical background to the emergence of Lesotho as an independent sovereign state in the belly of South Africa— a backdrop against which the subsequent analysis takes place. It looks at the changing nature of independent Lesotho's foreign policy. The chapter is concerned to identify the salient features and the character of the post-colonial state with a view to examining key influences on Lesotho's foreign policy perspectives. It also concludes with a consideration of the impact of globalization and recent regional changes on Lesotho's capacity for foreign policy formulation.
