Final Flashcards
1
Q
omnibalancing
A
- coined by SR David
- considers internal and external threat
- domestic political environment is as least as unstable and dangerous as the international one
- example: challenge posed by Putin when mercenaries went against him for a short time, the Wagner group
2
Q
balance of power theory
A
- predicts that threats will be resisted
- creating alliances with other states and arming themselves, balancing against other states: so they balance
- States’ alignment is determined by the structure of the international system, particularly by actual and potential external threats
3
Q
comparison between balance of power and omnibalancing
A
- balance of power: leaders of state will align with secondary adversaries so they can focus their resources on prime adversaries
- omnibalancing: Same holds true, but secondary threats are often other states. Primary threats are often domestic. Since the goal of Third World leaders is to stay in power, they will sometimes protect themselves at the expense of state interests
4
Q
authoritarian leaders afraid of internal threats
A
- dictators scared of own army
- try to weaken their army like stalin did in weakening the ranks of the Red Army
5
Q
elite security dilemma
A
- Authoritarian leaders in weak states are more constrained than other regime types
- Their militaries are useful mainly to repress civilians, not to fight foreign wars
- Military must be “coup-proof”- the leader deliberately weakens his own military to protect himself from getting overthrown
6
Q
Theoretical Implications of Omnibalancing
A
- with realism, it argues that intl politics focuses on power, interests, and rationality
- but unlike realism, states are not unitary actors
- leader of the state rather than state itself is the level of analysis
7
Q
Case Study: Uganda in East Africa
A
- Former british colony
- Early 1960s gained independence
- Had a bloody history mainly of internal repression by dictators
- Idi Amin was ugandan dictator from 1971-79
- seized power in military coup in 1971, sponsored by UK and Israel
- officer in the colonial army trained by UK
8
Q
external allegiances: back and forth
A
- 1971: Amin first expelled Soviet military advisors who had been sent under the Obote regime, replacing them with a team of 700 Israelis
- 1972: Amin switched allegiances, expelling the Israelis and bringing the Soviets back, along with Libyan military and the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization)
9
Q
Israel’s involvement in Uganda
A
- used militarity and agricultural expertise to expand relations with African countries, strengthen Israel’s intl legitimacy
- foreign policy of befriending non-arab
- many african states broke ties with Israel after 1973 war and Arab oil boycott
- Israel assisted Amin in 1971 coup
- soviets sold warplanes after Israel refused
10
Q
Libya’s involvement in Uganda
A
- military support
- offered monetary compensation to any african country that would agree to sever its relations with Israel
11
Q
USSR’s influence
A
- wanted to counter US influence
- supported coups by pro-soviet officers
- offered military support to client states
- major arms supplier to Amin regime
- upset regional balance of power by selling Uganda jets and tanks
12
Q
superpower-client ties: Amin
A
- he owed soviets money for weapons
- played superpowers by threatening to turn to the west
- soviets forgave debt and sent more weapons
13
Q
Amin’s Overthrow in 1979
A
- Oct 1978: amin’s forces launch incursions into Tanzanian territory, looting and shooting
- Uganda announces annex of Kagera salient from Tanzania
- Nov 1978 tanzania declares war
- march 1979 - uganda army loses, amin regime collapses
- april 1979 - amin flees to exile
14
Q
Why was Tanzania able to defeat Amin if Uganda had so much Soviet weaponry?
A
- amin weakened army bc lack of trust
- purged best military units
- libyan and palestinian forces could not save him
- tanzanian united and determined
15
Q
Nyerere’s Outrage vs Amin
A
- “We have one task only- and that is to hit him. We have the ability to hit him. We have a reason to hit him- and the determination to hit him… This man is a savage.”
16
Q
endgame for uganda
A
- tanzanian forces take capital, Kampala and send Amin into exile
- reinstall former pres obete, no less murderous than amin, 1976-1986
- own reign of terror
- overthrown by current ugandan president
17
Q
cold war in horn of africa: Somalia vs Ethiopia
A
- 1963 Somalia signs $30m in arms deal with soviets
- wished to counter Ethiopia, US client due to base at Kagnew
- Kennedy tried to win over Somalis
- Ethiopians threatened a chill in relations with US
- This imperiled ultra-strategic US listening station at Kagnew base in Ethiopia
- US backed off from supporting Somalia
18
Q
classic example of containment in african context
A
- In the emerging post-colonial context, US and USSR competed for clients, regional influence
- African states could play the superpowers off each other for leverage
- Military assistance could win allies but also worsen domestic instability
19
Q
roots of apartheid
A
- apartheid = separateness
- We can define it as state-sanctioned racism encoded in the laws and norms of state and society
- apartheid came into law in 1948
- foundation of Broederbon, secret society of Afrikaaans leaders, all except Mandela
20
Q
apartheid gov and link to colonialism
A
- Mamdani argues that apartheid should be considered the blueprint of colonialism in Africa, not outlying case
- racism not codified the same way it was in SA
- threat of violence intrinsic to colonization
- gov was a securocracy, industrialization driven by golden mines were fused with spy mechanisms
- military-industrial complex
- Laager complex = mentality of constant seige
21
Q
ANC
A
- founded in 1912 to promote African rights
- 1950s: protests, racist pass laws, africans needed to carry gov ID
- 1960: massacre at Sharpeville, ANC said peaceful resistance is futile
- Mandela said submit or fight
- MK armed wing of ANC, had to go abroad
22
Q
Front Line states: ideology over pragmatism
A
- Front-Line States (Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania) housed MK, People’s Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN), Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) bases
- These impoverished African countries suffered enormously for challenging apartheid (by 1988, approx. $30Bn in lost development)
- Angola and Mozambique were targeted military by the apartheid regime
- did not bandwagon with the militarily stronger white-supremacist regimes but due to ideological convictions
- Challenges theories claiming that states act only out of self-interest
- Would have made more sense to bandwagon or stay out of the way
- Malawi covertly sided with apartheid
- Botswana didn’t side but refused to give shelter to the armed wings, stayed out of the way
23
Q
apartheid and namibia
A
- SA had trusteeship of Namibia since 1920 from LoN
- served as a springboard for SA invasions and proxy wars in Angola
24
Q
Total strategy of apartheid
A
- President Botha birthed this
- total militarization of SA domestic and foreign policies
- blacks fighting for quality but manipulated by communists
- parallel between black scheme with communists, FBI through civil rights movement was with Soviets and secretly infiltrated US
- destabilizing neighbors
- apartheid regime waged war in Angola and Mozambique; staged raids covertly
- over 2m killed in proxy wars
- SA specialized in surrogate forces, “plausible deniability and black on black violence
25
Cassinga Raid
- May 1978
- SA forces attacked a South West Africa's People's Org (Namibia's independence movement) refugee camp in Angola
- over 600k dead, braodcasted fro propaganda
26
did such raids have a broader strategic purpose
- Two days before attack, on 2/5/78, the UN had adopted a declaration in favor of Namibia’s independence
- SWAPO had been in ongoing negotiations with SA
- Negotiations canceled because of the raids
- Massacre pushed Namibian independence back by a bloody decade
27
Nkomati Accords, 1984
- Mozambican president Machel, SA president PW Botha and FM Pik Botha met at Komatipoort, South Africa
- Agreed on mutual non-aggression: Mozambique would stop sheltering the ANC, SA would stop support to Renamo
- SA reneged on its commitments, escalated support for Renamo
28
Apartheid proxy wars: mozambique
- 1977-92
- Renamo founded by Rhodesia in 1975 to destabilize Mozambique
- SA trained Renamo after Rhodesia fell, targets civilians and civil infrastructure
- blacks fight on behalf of regime
- late 80s, renamo controlled 25% of territory
- crippled mozambican economy, threatened to cut it in two
29
why did Machel's plane crash, timeline of crash + investigation
- Oct. 1986: Machel killed in plane crash in SA territory
- 1986: Immediate Suspicions of foul play among Front-line states, Mozambique and USSR
- 1987: apartheid regime conducted an inquiry (the Margo Commission) that blamed pilot error
- 1998: South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) investigated crash in camera; testimonies provided strong evidence of foul play; declassified in 2014
- Most likely explanation: apartheid forces used a decoy beacon to mislead the pilots, causing plane to crash on South African soil (Douek)
30
why kill Machel, what was the motive?
- outspoken opponent of apartheid
- Machel threatened invasion of Malawi bc renamo was launching attacks from there
- Malawi Banda and SA began plotting assassination
- help from inside Machel's gov
- Chissano, Machel's successor was more moderate and pro-western
31
Impact of Machel's death
- Mozambican army never mounted a concerted offensive against Renamo
- Renamo stepped up its attacks on Mozambican civilians in 1987-88
- The apartheid regime continued to supply, train, and equip Renamo until 1991
- Mozambique became increasingly reliant on IMF and World Bank loans and structural adjustment policies
- IFIs attributed Mozambican economic failures to ideological refusal to “let the market work,” ignoring war’s impact
- 1992- Renamo demobilized into political party; FRELIMO wins free and fair elections
32
cold war flashpoint: Angola
- apartheid's endgame
- cuba in Angola
- US interests and policies
33
Angolan independence, SA invasion
- 1975: Portugal ends African colonial wars
- MPLA gains upper hand on domestic adversaries UNITA and Roberto’s FNLA
- 14 October: South Africa invades, goes for Luanda, allies itself with UNITA
- 7 November: Cuba intervenes, repulses South African army near Luanda
- Once NPLA gains independence in Luanda, SA launched military invasion through Namibia
34
cold war context of cuban in angola
- Ideological: Cuba’s Angola intervention motivated by “anti-imperialist solidarity”
- Strategic: Intervening in Cold War hotspots gave Cuba an outsized global political role
- Gaining battle experience, Soviet arms
- Many Cuban soldiers had African ancestry, wanted to fight apartheid
35
Castro's involvement in Angola
- not materialistic interest, not understood by imperialists
- Cuba sent 30k troops in 1975
- maintained military presence there until 1989
- driven by revolutionary mission
- castro said we will remain in angola until the end of apartheid
36
Cold War US in Angola
- US resented the MPLA victory in Angola, hated Cuba's role in successfully repelling SA's 1975 invasion
- angola syndrome of unrelenting Washington resentment towards victorious MPLA
- supported by soviets so disliked by US
- US involvement in Angolan oil, MPLA didn't mind them still drilling, wanted a good relationship with the US
- Kissinger secretary of state, strategy in angola
- parallel with failed bay of pigs
37
cold war: USSR in angola
- Soviets backed socialist-leaning MPLA and FRELIMO
USSR initially reluctant to join Angolan war; prodded by cubans
- Soviets sold weaponry to Angola and Cuba, covered Cuban costs: proxy war
- As fighting intensified (1980s) proxy arms race between NATO and Soviet Bloc like in Arab-Israeli conflict
- Soviets sent advances warplanes and missiles system
- Americans sent weapon technology to SA
38
Reagan views on apartheid
- South Africa is "a country that has stood by us in every war we've ever fought, a country that, strategically, is essential to the free world in its production of minerals.“
- Considered Mandela, the ANC to be communist-backed “terrorists”
- He was pro-apartheid, met with PM of Botha government
39
evidence for reagan being racist
- opposed civil rights act and voting rights act as california governner
- speaking of states's rights instead of civil rights near murder site of workers
- attacked civil rights policies, affirmative action and social welfare programs
- caused a breakdown in machinery built to protect civil rights
- racist welfare queen trope
- preserved tax- free status banning interracial dating
40
Reagan and UNITA
- 1986: US imposes sanctions on SA, but Reagan admin. still supplies weapons to UNITA
- Included sophisticated Stinger anti-aircraft missiles
- “Most members of (US) Congress remained oblivious to the end of the irony in imposing sanctions on South Africa while simultaneously joining it on the battlefield in Angola” (Minter)
- 1986: At White House with Savimbi, Reagan spoke of UNITA winning "a victory that electrifies the world and brings great sympathy and assistance from other nations to those struggling for freedom“
41
Cuito Cuanavale Battle (1987-88)
- South African and Unita forces advanced on the Angolan town of Cuito Cuanavale
- Castro assumed direct command of battle, sent in massive Cuban reinforcements
- Cuban and Angolan troops fought South Africans to a standstill, then launched a counteroffensive near Namibian border
- “Bloody Fidel Castro outwitted South Africa’s generals. It became dangerous” – SADF Col. Jan Breytenbach
42
outcome of the cuito canavalle battle
- Facing mounting losses, strategic threats and financial constraints, the South Africans left Angola
- Cuito Cuanavale "a turning point for the liberation of our continent and my people”- Nelson Mandela
- Namibia finally gained independence (March 1990) and Cuban troops withdrew from Africa
43
pressure mounts on SA
- domestic white casualty sensitivity
- swelling popular mass struggle
- growing MK attacks within SA itself
- more whites resisting conscription into the military
- 1989: president Botha steps down, replaced by "moderate" FW de Klerk
44
