Abstract
M.A. (Politics)
The election of South Africa to serve in the United Nations Security Council for two terms in 2007-08 and 2011-12 has been elaborately subjected to academic scrutiny. However, this study uniquely applies functionalism to examine these two terms and, aided by the three levels of analysis in international relations, the exercise focuses on South Africa’s interaction with the situations in Somalia, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Côte d'Ivoire. The three case studies are selected to assess if South Africa adjusted its stance on these three countries owing to its membership in the UNSC; and if African states behaved and cooperated as a front when considering the situations in Somalia, DRC and Côte d'Ivoire during the two terms. The assessment is contrasted with South Africa’s foreign policy which it committed to pursue at the United Nations. This study was able to confirm that South Africa did not alter its commitment to human rights and democracy, nor its stance on the selected case studies. Evidence was presented which proved its commitment to the foreign policy it bound itself to upon re-joining the UN. However, what was noted is a shift in method to achieve the desired goals. In that case, there is overwhelming evidence presented in this study that supports South Africa’s shift to political peace agreement initiatives as a way to settle disagreements. Nevertheless, the main aim of this newly adopted strategy, is to protect human rights and advance democracy. Regarding the African bloc, the study confirms the existence of the African Group but no clear record of African member states formally operating as a front when voting on matters affecting the selected case studies has been observed. This is despite all African states voting in alignment on all resolutions that are scrutinised in the study. The study concludes by recommending new areas of research applying functionalism as a conceptual framework. The study applied qualitative research (desk research) methodology to gather data.