Constructive engagement
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| International opposition to Apartheid in South Africa |
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Disinvestment · Academic boycott |
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UN Resolution 1761 (1962) |
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Anti-Apartheid Movement |
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1964 Conference for Economic Sanctions |
| United Nations Security Council Resolutions |
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Resolution 181 |
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Elimination of Racism Day |
"Constructive Engagement" was the name given to the policy of the Reagan Administration towards the apartheid regime in South Africa in the early 1980s. The policy was promoted as an alternative to pressure for economic sanctions on and divestment from South Africa from the international anti-apartheid movement.[1] Instead of sanctions and isolation, attempts at which by the United States Congress and the United Nations were vetoed by the Reagan Administration,[2] advocates of constructive engagement sought to use incentives to encourage South Africa to gradually move away from apartheid.[3] However, Reagan's veto of the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act was overridden, and so-called "constructive engagement" of the apartheid regime was ended by the Congress--over the objections of conservative members such as Dick Cheney, who noted that Nelson Mandela was the head of an organization the State Dept had deemed "terrorist".[4] The policy came under criticism as government repression of the black population and anti-apartheid activists intensified. The policy was echoed by the British government led by Margaret Thatcher.[5]
The policy's architect was American foreign policy specialist Chester Crocker, who was Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from 1981 to 1987, as a means of linking the independence of South African occupied Namibia to an easing of the arms embargo against South Africa and the withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola.[6] The phrase was soon applied to US polices regarding apartheid itself.
[edit] References
- ^ Sanford J. Ungar and Peter Vale, "Why Constructive Engagement failed", Current Affairs, Winter 85/86
- ^ Manzo, Kate, "U.S. South Africa Policy in the 1980s: Constructive Engagement and Beyond", Review of Policy Research, Vol. 6 Issue 2 Page 212 November 1986
- ^ Deborah Toler, "Constructive Engagement: Reactionary Pragmatism at Its Best", Issue: A Journal of Opinion, Vol. 12, No. 3/4 (Autumn - Winter, 1982), pp. 11-18
- ^ Cheney and Mandela: Reconciling The Truth About Cheney's Vote.
- ^ James Hamill, "South Africa and the Commonwealth part one: the years of acrimony - Commonwealth of Nations", Contemporary Review, July 1995
- ^ J.E. Davies, Constructive Engagement?: Chester Crocker & American Policy in South Africa, Namibia & Angola, Ohio University Press, 2007
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Why Constructive Engagement failed, by Sanford J. Ungar and Peter Vale, Current Affairs, Winter 85/86
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