Examining the role of preventive diplomacy in South Africa’s foreign policy towards Zimbabwe, 2000-2009

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dc.contributor.advisor Solomon, Hussein en
dc.contributor.postgraduate Coady, Allison Marie en
dc.date.accessioned 2013-09-06T23:20:40Z
dc.date.available 2013-06-28 en
dc.date.available 2013-09-06T23:20:40Z
dc.date.created 2013-04-19 en
dc.date.issued 2012 en
dc.date.submitted 2013-06-19 en
dc.description Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. en
dc.description.abstract The recent political conflict in Zimbabwe has attracted the attention of policymakers, academics and the media alike in the neighbouring countries of the region, across the African continent and internationally. While the story of an ageing African liberation hero turned dictator who, through autocratic rule, has governed his country and his people to the ground in order to maintain power is captivating, a key element of the fascination is the critical diplomatic role played by South Africa from 2000 onward. Foreign policy in post-apartheid South Africa on paper is driven by human rights and democracy, conflict prevention and conflict resolution through peaceful means, and the promotion of African interests in world affairs. However, after observing South Africa’s involvement in the Zimbabwe conflict between 2000 and 2009, South Africa’s foreign policy appears to be propelled more by African solidarity and sovereignty, anti-imperialism, and a softer interpretation of preventive diplomacy than its international counterparts. Thabo Mbeki’s preventive diplomacy toward Zimbabwe during his presidency was slow to produce results, lacked transparency and frustrated many, yet, when examined under a preventive diplomacy theoretical lens, Mbeki’s policy did eventually garner success through the signing of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) and the formation of an inclusive government in Zimbabwe. This dissertation examines the role of preventive diplomacy in South Africa’s foreign policy toward Zimbabwe under Mbeki’s leadership and determines the point at which South Africa switched from an approach of preventive diplomacy to one of conflict resolution and conflict management. The concept of ‘preventive diplomacy’ is often focused on government-to-government relations or the high level diplomacy of intergovernmental organizations such as the United Nations (UN). Multi-track diplomacy expands on this traditional interpretation and considers the preventive diplomacy contributions of a variety of non-state actors to the practice of conflict prevention. This dissertation uniquely moulds the preventive diplomacy theoretical framework of Michael Lund with Kumar Rupesinghe’s concept of multi-track diplomacy to form a more comprehensive illustration of the role of preventive diplomacy in the approach of multiple actors towards the Zimbabwe conflict. The more inclusive preventive diplomacy theoretical framework is then applied to the conflict in Zimbabwe between 2000 and 2009. Through the application of a preventive diplomacy framework which incorporates the concept of multi-track diplomacy it is then possible to observe the South African government’s preventive diplomacy approach toward Zimbabwe first between 2000 and 2007 and then as mandated by SADC between 2007 and 2009 and finally compare it with the diplomacy of multi-track actors such as the UN, Zimbabwe-based and South African-based civil society organizations, the Zimbabwean Diaspora, religious groups, and financial institutions. The examination of the larger role of preventive diplomacy in the Zimbabwe conflict situation leads to the understanding that each diplomatic effort is interlinked. Therefore the culminating event of the South African government’s preventive diplomacy approach in the Global Political Agreement could not have been achieved without the preventive diplomacy efforts of a multitude of actors who were also committed to preventing violence and finding a lasting solution to the conflict in Zimbabwe. en
dc.description.availability unrestricted en
dc.description.department Political Sciences en
dc.identifier.citation Coady, AM 2012, Examining the role of preventive diplomacy in South Africa’s foreign policy towards Zimbabwe, 2000-2009, MA dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://hdl.handle.net/2263/25681 > en
dc.identifier.other E13/4/753/gm en
dc.identifier.upetdurl http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-06192013-154337/ en
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/2263/25681
dc.language.iso en
dc.publisher University of Pretoria en_ZA
dc.rights © 2012 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria en
dc.subject Global political agreement (GPA) en
dc.subject Governmental diplomacy en
dc.subject Ecumenical diplomacy en
dc.subject Conflict en
dc.subject Conflict resolution en
dc.subject Conflict management en
dc.subject Preventive diplomacy en
dc.subject Conflict life cycle en
dc.subject Early warning en
dc.subject Track one track to diplomacy en
dc.subject Inter-governmental diplomacy en
dc.subject Inclusive government en
dc.subject Multi-track diplomacy en
dc.subject Zimbabwean diaspora en
dc.subject Community schemes ombud service (CSOS) en
dc.subject Non-governmental organisation (NGO) en
dc.subject United Nations (UN) en
dc.subject Foreign policy en
dc.subject Southern African Development Community (SADC) en
dc.subject Zimbabwe en
dc.subject Conflict intervention en
dc.subject Conflict prevention en
dc.subject Citizen diplomacy en
dc.subject South Africa (SA) en
dc.subject Economic diplomacy en
dc.subject Thabo mbeki en
dc.subject ANC en
dc.subject MDC en
dc.subject Zanu-PF en
dc.subject UCTD en_US
dc.title Examining the role of preventive diplomacy in South Africa’s foreign policy towards Zimbabwe, 2000-2009 en
dc.type Dissertation en


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