For all of its moral posturing, the ANC has lost all right to lecture anyone else about their conduct, but as this once great organisation itself becomes the ultimate persona non grata...
Thank you for a balanced take. These are rare in South Africa when it comes to geopolitics.
Reading between the lines, you seem to be suggesting we pursue a values-based foreign policy when it comes to security relationships, and interests-based FP when it comes to trade and economics. I think this is more or less what we had under Mbeki and Mandela, it's worth thinking about.
Ramaphosa's foreign policy seems to be driven by virtue-signalling, not just when it comes to our irrational approach to Israel, but also on the continent where he thoughtlessly deploys troops only to withdraw them at the smallest sign of public disapproval.
I'm no economist but even in terms of economic foreign relations, it's worth remembering that Iran is pretty much insignificant as a trading partner too. At least with South Africa on an official level - the corrupt ANC may be another matter. In contrast, the US is still South Africa's second largest trading partner and regardless of what you think of Trump (and I'm no fan), Ramaphosa and the ANC's willingness to antagonise him at every turn does nothing but hurt South Africa. Standing with Putin or the IRCG isn't just a values failing on the part of the ANC, but strategically and financially, it seems every bit as ill advised.
I agree, but Trump is too erratic for any strategy to work on him, we must tailor our strategy to the US congress and hope this will be rewarded under a saner US President. Iran, Cuba and North Korea do nothing for us (apart from MTN in Iran), we can easily drop them. Russia is significant enough that even if we don't have much trade volume with them right now, we must still pursue more trade with Russia.
Thank you for a balanced take. These are rare in South Africa when it comes to geopolitics.
Reading between the lines, you seem to be suggesting we pursue a values-based foreign policy when it comes to security relationships, and interests-based FP when it comes to trade and economics. I think this is more or less what we had under Mbeki and Mandela, it's worth thinking about.
Ramaphosa's foreign policy seems to be driven by virtue-signalling, not just when it comes to our irrational approach to Israel, but also on the continent where he thoughtlessly deploys troops only to withdraw them at the smallest sign of public disapproval.
Looking forward to seeing more of your stuff.
Thanks for the kind words!
I'm no economist but even in terms of economic foreign relations, it's worth remembering that Iran is pretty much insignificant as a trading partner too. At least with South Africa on an official level - the corrupt ANC may be another matter. In contrast, the US is still South Africa's second largest trading partner and regardless of what you think of Trump (and I'm no fan), Ramaphosa and the ANC's willingness to antagonise him at every turn does nothing but hurt South Africa. Standing with Putin or the IRCG isn't just a values failing on the part of the ANC, but strategically and financially, it seems every bit as ill advised.
I agree, but Trump is too erratic for any strategy to work on him, we must tailor our strategy to the US congress and hope this will be rewarded under a saner US President. Iran, Cuba and North Korea do nothing for us (apart from MTN in Iran), we can easily drop them. Russia is significant enough that even if we don't have much trade volume with them right now, we must still pursue more trade with Russia.
We need to become truly non-aligned.