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Global Africa and the concept of 'near-abroad'

By: James N. Kariuki

[ Posted On: 2008-06-17 ]

What do China, South Africa, Brazil and India have in common? They are the fastest growing economies worldwide and they are now drafting an outline of a multi-power world.

According to South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana-Dlamini Zuma, it is incumbent upon Africa to cultivate stronger ties among these emerging powers and Russia.

Since the minister's statement was made before Parliament, it must be presumed to be a well thought-out ordering of SA's foreign policy priorities. Reduced to the core, the central pre-occupation of SA international relations is to curb the influence of the uni-polar superpower, the United States, and its Western allies.

Dispersal of democracy and promotion of human rights around the world remain important principles to SA, but in the established hierarchy of values, they are a level below. And this order of priorities has been put to test on several occasions since January last year when SA became a non-permanent member of UN Security Council.

When the choice has arisen whether to vote in the interest of advancing human rights and democracy or resisting Western dominance on world stage, SA has chosen the latter option. This was the case regarding Myanmar, Darfur and Zimbabwe.

Repeatedly, SA's argument has been that some Third World issues that come before the Security Council are outside the Council's jurisdiction, as they do not threaten world peace. The appropriate forums for them are other international bodies where Third World views are represented.

The driving imperative here has been procedural: to bypass the Western veto-wielding powers in the Council. Yet, in practical terms this has meant circumventing issues of life- and-death in places like Zimbabwe rather than addressing them directly. How does Russia fit into this equation? It finds a point of contact with SA in that it is also interested in curbing Western influence.

Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin was content to let the former Soviet satellites adopt Western style of democracy and even join the EU and Nato, if they so chose. His successor, however, was more circumspect. Vladimir Putin was suspicious that the West was co-opting the former Russian 'sphere of influence' to encircle and isolate Russia. Accordingly, he did everything possible to counter Western moves.

Legitimising land seizures

Some of the US moves were indeed misguided and provocative. For instance, the American insistence on building a missile interceptor shield in the contested space (Poland) was counter-productive and served only to confirm Putin's suspicions. On balance, however, it was Putin's determination to influence the outcomes in the Russian 'near-abroad' that largely strained relations with the West.

Similarly, Zimbabwe is seen in some quarters as SA's 'near-abroad.' And the Anglo-American support for Zimbabwe's opposition is read as encroachment on SA's sphere of influence, with the ultimate objective of surrounding and isolating it. This perception is particularly applicable relative to the issue of land.

Considering its own land mal-distribution in favour of whites, SA officialdom surely 'understands' and accepts as legitimate Robert Mugabe's forceful land seizures. Yet, it is widely believed that the Zimbabwe opposition has made a deal with Britain: "Support regime change in Zimbabwe and we will roll back the land seizures when we come to power."

Against this background, Mugabe perceives Zimbabwe's opposition as part of a British grand scheme. While most of the world sees the Zimbabwe crisis as a struggle for democracy and human rights, Mugabe believes that it is a British-engineered disruption to sabotage Zimbabwe's independence in the interest of the white farming kith-and-kin in the region.

To Mugabe, the elections are a referendum on whether Zimbabwe reverts to a defunct British imperial order or becomes truly free. To the former, he says, no; it negates everything he stands for.

In the ANC anti-imperial logic, Mugabe is SA's ally; Zimbabwe's opposition is an enemy, a stepping stone for the Western imperialists that once supported apartheid.

Curtailment of Anglo-American influence in Zimbabwe is a higher SA foreign policy priority than human rights and democracy. It is not that democracy and human rights are irrelevant; it is that, in context of Western intrusions, those objectives are as dry as dust.

Since Russia is opposed to Western imperial designs worldwide, it is a natural ally of SA, Africa and the Third World's rising giants.

Article Source: http://www.afroarticles.com/article-dashboard

About The Author: James N. Kariuki - is head of the African Diaspora Unit at the Africa Institute of South Africa in Pretoria.

| View Profile & All Articles By: James N. Kariuki |

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