Imperialism's Overall Strategy in Southern Africa

Following the emergences of national liberation struggles in Southern Africa during the early sixties, imperialist strategy changed from one of direct support for the white racist regimes to one of "detente" —the attempt to influence those regimes to moderate their racial and colonial policies and to change confrontation between black and white in Africa into "dialogue" and conciliation. Already fruitless diplomatic efforts had been made by the British on "HMS Tiger" and "HMS Fearless" in 1966 and 1968. The recognition of the need for change was set out in the 1969 Nixon Kissinger doctrine which laid the basic framework for US policy in the area US objectives as set out then and still they remain today, were to protect American interests and opportunities in the area and under the guise of containing the "Commuist" threat, to contain the potential of nationalist movements to develop into revolutionary socialist movements. The Nixon-Kissinger Doctrine also recognised the need to minimize the likelihood of direct US involvement in the conflict given the impending defeat in Indo China. Thus the subtle manoeuvres of detente have replaced direct military intervention and US imperialism has worked through its main representative, Vorster and its most willing collaborator, Kaunda of Zambia.

Though the basic strategy was laid down in 1969 and manoeuvres started then, it was only with the collapse of the Portugese empire that conditions necessitated its full implementation. The successes through armed struggle of popular movements in Angola and Mozambique alongside the successes of ZANU especially since 1972 raised the spectre of liberation struggles increasingly developing a socialist perspective, with the ultimate possibility being that the whole Southern African [unclear: bloc] would disengage itself from the world capitalist system.