This International Affairs Bulletin contains three articles:
The article by Hennie Kotzé, Pierre du Toit and Jan Gagiano describes options for the US concerning sanctions and South Africa. It address the argument that sanctions will promote a democratic outcome in South African, and argues for an alternative approach to the problem. The policy based on the notion that sanctions against South Africa can induce peaceful transformation makes numerous flawed assumptions. The article concludes that a fully implemented policy of sanctions against South Africa increases the likelihood of violent confrontation. The challenge for the US is not merely to eliminate apartheid from South Africa, but to replace it with something better.
Deon Geldenhuys’ article describes the forces of penetration, intervention and isolation of South Africa by the international community, outlining an alternative framework for the analysis of South Africa’s international relations, focusing on these inter-related phenomena. It is concluded that the ‘price’ for ending isolation and intervention is the end of apartheid and white minority rule.
Roger Gravil’s article describes José Sarney’s Brazil in its political and economic context. Various elected governments have recently emerged in South America, replacing military governments, often precipitated by vast economic failure. The article analyses the last twenty years of Brazil’s political economy, including the problems concentrated in its North-Eastern region. Economic collapse combined with the debt crisis ended Brazil’s military government. President Sarney planned to tackle the economic crisis with a scheme for economic stabilisation known as the Cruzado Plan.
