Abstract:
This case explores the US role in attempting to craft a settlement of disputes in two Southern African nations: Namibia, an illegally-controlled colony of South Africa under siege by a black guerilla movement, and Angola, where a leftist government supported by Cuban troops faced a South Africa-supported insurgency of its own. Underlying US diplomatic initiatives is the policy of "constructive engagement," the belief that working with governments such as that of South Africa--which are friendly to the US but which operate in key ways contrary to American values--can be justified in the name of long-term progress. In this case, the US must decide whether to link support for an end to South African control of Namibia to a pullout of Cuban troops from Angola--even if such "linkage" may provide a rationale for indefinite South African occupation. The US must decide, too, whether to support the guerilla challenge to the leftist Angola government, even though the Angolan guerillas are allied with South Africa. The case stops short of the ultimate settlement in Namibia.
