Globalization and Emerging Trends in African States' Foreign Policy-Making Process : A Comparative Perspective of Southern Africa

An analysis of African states' foreign policies and their policy-making processes. Almost without exception there is a general consensus that developments over the last two decades of the 20th century have not only undermined the capacity of African states to play a meaningful role in the international system, but more critically, multilateralized foreign policy-making processes. No longer is the weak nation-state the sole captain of its fate, because an array of actors ranging from multinational corporations, non-governmental organizations (international and national), trade lobby and more have become important in the sphere of foreign policy-making processes. Contributing authors examine foreign policies as well as the impact of the interlocking interplay of the multiplicity of actors on foreign policy-making in Southern African countries in the era of globalization. The volume is not based on the members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) "per se", but on Southern Africa as a contiguous geographical region with socio-cultural and econo-political linkages. Not surprisingly, a couple of SADC member countries are missing from the volume. For example Tanzania - though an active participant in the FLS deliberations during the apartheid era, and a member of SADC - is excluded.