Description
What happened between May 2023, when US Ambassador Reuben Brigety accused South Africa in a public statement of sending arms to Russia and was threatened with expulsion by the South African government, and November 2023 when Brigety, restored to diplomatic graces, welcomed the US delegation to Johannesburg for the AGOA summit?
How was the midyear impasse in relations resolved, and why were the calls from US senators to expel South Africa from the AGOA list of preferential trading states on the basis of Pretoria’s perceived support for Russia in Moscow’s war in Ukraine, not heeded in Washington?
This article will utilise Putnam’s ‘two level game theory’ as well as Zimmerman’s issue areas to unpack the dynamics at play in relations between the US and South Africa in the current period. It will present research into the diplomatic trade-offs in US foreign policy towards South Africa under the Biden administration, positing likely scenarios. Interviews with key stakeholders from the US and South Africa, as well as a survey of recent literature on the relationship, will underpin the analysis.
