Abstract
Decision-making is a central feature of the construct of leadership. This is no different for South African foreign policy and state intelligence, where decision-making rests in the hands of a body which, willingly or unwillingly, adopts the mantle of leadership. There is, however, limited research in the synergy that exists between South African foreign policy and state intelligence when it comes to leadership. There is even less research on the decision-making attribute of leadership and its application in the context of South African foreign policy. In the endeavour to bridge the gap in understanding the leadership role of the state intelligence agency within the context of South African foreign policy decision-making, the aim of this study is to discover, critically assess, and comprehend leadership as it relates to the role of the state intelligence institutions in South African foreign policy decision-making.
A qualitative research approach was adopted for this study. This study consisted of different phases, a narrative, interpretive and a descriptive phase, in order to achieve the research aims. Social constructivist grounded theory was utilised in the pursuit of research objectives. In-depth semi-structured face-to-face interviews comprising experts in the fields of foreign policy decision-making, intelligence and leadership were conducted. The literature review provides central themes on leadership, and particularly decision-making, South African foreign policy and state intelligence institutions, setting the context in understanding concepts and identifying the gaps in the relevant research.
The two main findings of this study were the following: Firstly, within the realm of foreign policy decision-making and in line with the bureaucratic model, individual leadership models can be translated in understanding an institutional leadership phenomenon. Secondly, there is a greater need for synergy between the State Security Agency (SSA) and other organs of the state within the area of foreign policymaking in line with the cooperative governance approach espoused by the country’s constitution. This thesis argues for a cooperative foreign policy, where state intelligence plays a role in supporting other organs of state at arriving at a plausible South African foreign policy decision-making.
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This research study concludes by making the following three recommendations: Firstly, further studies should be conducted on the role of institutions in building a cooperative foreign policy decision-making process. Secondly, an additional study should be conducted which highlights the general leadership role of the SSA within the state’s policy development. Thirdly, future scholars should seek to build on the institutional leadership phenomenon in understanding the dynamics of the bureaucratic model.