State elites and South Africa's international isolation: a longitudinal comparison of perception

Abstract

South Africa has increasingly become isolated because of international punitive measures against apartheid. This study addresses a neglected aspect of the South African sanctions debate. What are the perceptions of the ruling elites of the target state? Two issues have been analyzed. Firstly, two surveys conducted in 1983 and 1987 show that the perception of isolation in the fields of diplomatic, economic, military and socio‐cultural relations has deepened. Secondly, a survey of newspaper clippings reveal that South African government elites resist the demands of sanctionists i.e. the scrapping of apartheid. The South African government instead sees sanctions as a part of a “revolutionary onslaught” against South Africa. In conclusion it is argued that the link between the excesses necessary to maintain apartheid and to fuel international economic coercion against South Africa, particularly by the West, will remain intact.