Italy and apartheid South Africa: between innovation and ambivalence, 1976-1990

The chapter analyses Italy's foreign policy towards the apartheid regime in South Africa in the period 1976-1990, from the Soweto uprising to the liberation of Nelson Mandela and the begininning of the transition to a democratic South Africa. The focus is on the debate and the deliberations taken by the main institutional actors (government, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Chamber of Deputies and Senate with their respective Foreign Affairs Commitee), while the role played by social actors like the anti-apartheid movements or the trade unions and by political parties remains in the background (and analysed in other chapters of the book). The study of official documents points to .... main conclusions: (1) the link established by Italy on a consensual, bipartisan basis, between peace and security in Southern Africa and the domestic developments in South Africa herself; in such context Italy played a major role in the granting of development aid to the Front Line States as well as in supporting them diplomatically; (2) Italy tried to strike a balance between her proactive role towards FLS and European consensus; (3) while actively engaged in Mozambique and in the region, Italy was more timid in her policy towards apartheid, notwithstanding the pressure from the opposition in parliament and the anti-apartheid movement in society; (4) that was particulary clear as far as sanctions against the apartheid regime were concerned, Italy simply followed the consensus reached in the EU. In the end, the politica capital accumulated by Italy in the region thanks to her role in the peace process in Mozambique, has been almost entirely spoilt in the following decades.