ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book analyses South African foreign policy from the onset of the democratic transition to the contemporary period. It provides a comprehensive review of South African foreign policy, including new material on key aspects of the transition and the consolidation of foreign policy under Mandela and Mbeki. The book also analyses critically the interplay between foreign-policy themes – human rights, development and security – at the regional and continental levels through an investigation of specific case studies in central and southern Africa. It shows how South Africa’s ambitious foreign-policy agenda, the product of international expectations fostered in part by Mandela and the pan-African revivalism of Mbeki, needs to be tempered by an appreciation of the constraints that inhibit or circumscribe its ability to achieve these objectives.
