Commonwealth Diplomacy and the End of Apartheid

This article is based on the inaugural Anthony Low Commonwealth Lecture delivered by the author on 17 November 2016.

Abstract

This article recounts the struggle that those fighting for an end to apartheid in South Africa faced and the role that the Commonwealth played in that struggle. The author recounts the contribution of the Whitlam, Fraser and Hawke administrations in Australia in bringing down the apartheid regime but stresses that these leaders chose the Commonwealth as their primary vehicle for change. In the author’s view, the fight against apartheid was, arguably, the finest achievement of the modern Commonwealth.

Keywords:

• South Africa
• Commonwealth
• Bob Hawke
• Nelson Mandela
• African National Congress
• Margaret Thatcher
• sanctions

Notes

This article is based on the inaugural Anthony Low Commonwealth Lecture delivered by the author on 17 November 2016.

1. W. David McIntyre (1991) The Significance of the Commonwealth, 1965–90. London: Macmillan, p. 39.

2. Bob Hawke (1994) The Hawke Memoirs. Melbourne: William Heinemann Australia, pp. 320–321.