The frontline states in Southern African international politics, 1975-1989

Abstract

Abstract by author:

This dissertation builds on theories of small-state alliances to explain the behavior of the Frontline States (FLS), Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe in the southern African international subsystem. My primary proposition is that, since the mid 1970s, an informal and limited alliance framework has allowed the FLS the means to effect change in interstate relations. Contrary to theories that assign peripheral roles to small, underdeveloped states, this study argues that the FLS individually and collectively aggregated their political and economic resources to promote the decolonization of Zimbabwe and Namibia. Furthermore, I suggest that, despite the economic power imbalances in the subsystem, the FLS sought to transform their weaknesses into an expanded economic alliance, the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC). The discussion of SADCC reveals the possibilities of collective action while at the same time capturing the dynamism in the alignment process among the FLS. The analysis of the FLS role in decolonization and economic integration also supports the proposition that small-state alliances are insufficient instruments for problem solving. Toward this end, I show that the ability of the FLS to meet their objectives is dependent on external participation in the subsystem. Using the concept of external access, this study discusses the multifaceted forms of external intervention in regional conflicts. It concludes by examining the changes in the regional and international landscapes in the late 1980s and their impact on the future of Southern Africa