Prospects for transplanting European models of regional integration to Southern Africa

Abstract

This article suggests that the major obstacle to the harmonisation of policies and ultimate regional integration in the deeply divided region of southern Africa arises from a conflicting political matrix. By using the concepts of high” and “low” politics the author analyses the deep political schisms and parallel economic dependency which characterize relations between the states of the region, and concludes that conventional models for regional integration cannot be transplanted to the southern African region.