Publication

This brief looks at South Africa’s foreign policy towards the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine and the International Criminal Court (ICC). The author argues that while South Africa played an important role in supporting these initiatives following its democratic transition in 1994, twenty years on the country's policy is less focused on these issues. The author suggests that a reason for this change in policy is that there is a suspicion that such initiatives advance Western interests. However, he also contends that if South Africa wishes to contribute to the international agenda, it will have to engage with these initiatives, articulate its suspicions and proffer reasoned alternatives.