SOUTH-AFRICA EMERGENCE AS A MIDDLE POWER

This article seeks to explain South Africa's ostensible emergence as a middle power. It makes the case for the use of a Coxian-based critica l theory perspective, which relates the interrelationship between chan ge at the level of world order, the nature of production and the socia l forces operative in the middle power's state-societal complex to exp lain South Africa's increasingly active role in international affairs. Playing a mediatory role helps the South African state make diverse f oreign policy goals more compatible and it also goes some way in thwar ting criticism levelled at its foreign policy in the state-societal do main. Contrary to earlier theorising about middle powers, this article supports a more recent contention that middle powers act in their own (ie dominant societal) interests. The value of such a perspective is illustrated in the light of current debates about the apparent incongr uity of South African foreign policy.