Suid-Afrika se internasionale norm-entrepreneurskap

Abstract

The ambitious foreign policy that democratic South Africa has pursued since 1994 contains a strong element of international norm-entrepreneurship. This largely selfimposed undertaking can involve a set of related tasks: upholding, formulating, promoting and enforcing internationally accepted norms of state conduct. South Africa has indeed taken up all four responsibilities. The country has established an exemplary record in respecting universal norms both domestically and in its foreign relations. South Africa features prominently as a norm formulator in multilateral
forums, especially in Africa. The missionary zeal with which the new South Africa had originally promoted norms abroad has, however, been tempered by a pragmatism that tends to favour money over morality. The Republic has shown even less enthusiasm for norm enforcement. Contentious international issues like Zimbabwe and Myanmar revealed inconsistencies and prevarication in South Africa’s norm entrepreneurship. Instead of watering down its initiatives even further, South Africa ought to embark on a more robust form of norm entrepreneurship abroad.