ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the 1998 South African military intervention, called Operation Boleas, in Lesotho with the alleged goal of restoring democracy and political stability. The case demonstrates how important it is for small powers to have some degree of agency to design successful altercasting strategies. As a non-confirmatory case, it shows that Lesotho did not manage to change South Africa’s master role in Southern Africa despite the high levels of asymmetrical interdependence between the two countries, as well as fierce domestic opposition within South Africa favoring Lesotho. In fact, severe domestic instability and domestic political fragmentation made it impossible for Lesotho to design any altercasting that could eventually impact South Africa’s historical master role of coercive leader toward Lesotho.
