National Chairman's Annual Statement 2007

The National Chairman of the South African Institute of International Affairs assesses South Africa's role as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in 2007. The statement critiques the tension between South Africa's aspirational moral authority and the 'realpolitik' of global diplomacy, specifically citing failures to address human rights violations in Zimbabwe. It advocates for a shift from state security to human security and calls for the development of indigenous African research capacity to shape the continent's policy agendas.

• South Africa's assumption of a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council in 2007 presents an opportunity to reaffirm its commitment to democratic values, social justice, and human rights on the international stage.
• There is a contradiction between South Africa's global aspirations and its actions regarding regional human rights, particularly in Zimbabwe, where the state's brutality and a crisis of legitimacy have been met with a lack of principled response.
• The global order is transitioning from a uni-polar system dominated by the United States to a multi-polar landscape featuring the rise of China, India, and Russia, which increases international unpredictability and insecurity.
• Africa lacks sufficient indigenous research capacity to set its own policy agendas, with governments often ignoring existing regional centres of excellence and allowing agendas to be set outside the continent.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2007). National Chairman's Annual Statement 2007. https://saiia.org.za/news/national-chairmans-annual-statement-2007/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. National Chairman's Annual Statement 2007. 2007. https://saiia.org.za/news/national-chairmans-annual-statement-2007/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=National Chairman's Annual Statement 2007 |date=27 March 2007 |url=https://saiia.org.za/news/national-chairmans-annual-statement-2007/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2007national, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{National Chairman's Annual Statement 2007}}, publisher = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2007}, month = mar, url = {https://saiia.org.za/news/national-chairmans-annual-statement-2007/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }