South Africa’s Involvement in Zimbabwe’s Suspension from the Commonwealth of Nations

This article delves upon Zimbabwe’s 2002 suspension from the Commonwealth of Nations and the relentless efforts of South Africa and other peers to get that suspension lifted, in the context of continuous rebuttals from states such as the UK and Australia. The research piece touches primarily upon th...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Petrica, Dan
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:Ecuador
Institución:Universidad Andina Simón Bolivar
Repositorio:Revista Comentario Internacional
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:revistas.uasb.edu.ec:article/4218
Acceso en línea:https://revistas.uasb.edu.ec/index.php/comentario/article/view/4218
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Relaciones internacionales
organizaciones internacionales
(pos)colonialismo
democracia
diplomacia
política exterior
international relations
international organizations
(post)colonialism
democracy
diplomacy
foreign policy
Descripción
Sumario:This article delves upon Zimbabwe’s 2002 suspension from the Commonwealth of Nations and the relentless efforts of South Africa and other peers to get that suspension lifted, in the context of continuous rebuttals from states such as the UK and Australia. The research piece touches primarily upon the underlying motives for the said suspension, as well as the reasoning behind the bandwagoning of nations on the ongoing issues plaguing Zimbabwe in the early 2000s. Furthermore, it tangentially covers themes such as: the balance within the Commonwealth, global North versus South interpretations of democracy – and the realities they produce, and the rationale of two-sided post-colonial narratives. In our endeavour we have used a series of primary and secondary literary sources. Our conclusion is that South Africa gave primacy to its own foreign policy objectives, and thereby, allowed democracy to continue to disintegrate in Zimbabwe. Our research piece purposefully lacks the classical structure one might expect, for we consider that the chosen style of organizing information best befits the general public and specialized reads alike.