SA shouldn’t risk its neutrality
SOUTH Africa's decision to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) is one that cannot be understood in isolation.
The country has always aimed to be non-aligned, a friend to all nations, barring perhaps Israel. The non-aligned posture of its foreign policy means we cannot unilaterally support American imperialism and the Anglo-Saxon world's version of the rules-based order.
The international context of the ICC proposed withdrawal demonstrates the cleavages in South Africa's operating environment. Economically, we are oriented towards the West through preferential trade agreements, but, politically, we are oriented to the east through BRICS.
Repositioning our economy to look east, while maintaining historical ties with some European nations will result in conflicting views.
In South Africa, there is a political split in support of American foreign policy goals and those who find themselves more aligned to the BRICS propositions.
Europe and the US are no longer friends to the global order. Their support for unilateralism and their persistent destabilisation of Africa, as well the lies and untruths of their corporate media, do not serve the interests of African countries.
All the international institutions set up after the World War II, such as Bretton Woods, favour a global power distribution that no longer exists. To a lesser or greater extent, Africa is a big laboratory for Western pharma, a dumping ground for Western multinationals and a playground for the criminals in action.
If what happened with Minsk accords is anything to go by, the West cannot be trusted to be reciprocal and considerate of African political and economic development.
Africa is not going to develop as a proxy war staging ground for the Americans or its European allies.
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