Abstract
Foreign policymaking can, and often has, become subject to the vicissitudes of autocratic political leaders, or what I refer to as the ‘cult of personality’. This chapter assesses how the cult of personality has been exploited in the Southern African region by leaders to instrumentalise and manipulate the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to serve their interests. This chapter explores the key thematic drivers that influence and orient the behaviour of states within regional institutions in the Southern African region. It examines the South African-led SADC intervention in Lesotho, and concludes with some recommendations on strategies for mitigating against the instrumentalisation of foreign policy.
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Murithi, T. (2018). The Instrumentalisation of SADC to Achieve Foreign Policy Agendas. In: Warner, J., Shaw, T. (eds) African Foreign Policies in International Institutions. Contemporary African Political Economy. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57574-6_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57574-6_10
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