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Reflections on U.S. Policy towards Namibia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2017

Gofer Teal Butcher
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Extract

United States policy towards Namibia is the one shining oasis in the veritable desert known as United States policy towards southern Africa—an area of foreign policy where a mirage of official words has tended either to obfuscate United States government actions supporting the minority government or to obscure the real significance of such actions.

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Type
Research Article
Information
African Issues , Volume 4 , Issue 3 , Fall 1974 , pp. 59 - 62
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 1974 

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References

1 The position of the U.S. government itself on apartheid was indicated in the 30 October 1963 U.S. statement to the Trusteeship Committee: …There is neither legal nor political basis for the apartheid laws in South Africa; there is also no moral basis for such laws anywhere in the world, let alone in a territory such as Southwest Africa, which has a clear international character, which was given to the Government of South Africa as “a sacred trust of civilization.“

2 International Court of Justice Reports of Judgments, Advisory Opinions and Orders: South West Africa Cases, 1966 (Diss. Op. Jessup), pp. 322, 438-39.

3 Security Council Resolution 366 of 17 December 1974 unanimously calls on South Africa to withdraw from Namibia and to move to transfer power to the people of South-West Africa with United Nations assistance, and asks South Africa to “make a solemn declarat i o n “ that she will comply with UN decisions regarding the territory. Finally, the Security Council is to meet on May 30 to review South Africa's compliance and to consider “appropriate measures.“

4 Security Council Resolution 366 of 17 December 1974 is commended insofar as it goes, but the big question remains as to which “appropriate measures” of the Charter we will support. (Is it not sad, however, that five years after Security Council Resolution 269, setting a date for withdrawal, that this is considered promising?)