The book presents and analyses South African foreign policy, from the onset of the democratic transition of Nelson Mandela in 1994 to the contemporary period. The focus of the study is on the question of South African leadership in the context of this transition.

Introduction -- Chapter 1 Mandela and the Foreign Policy of Transition -- Constructing a new foreign policy -- Transforming the instruments of foreign policy -- Problems of implementation -- Transformation and apartheid's legacies -- Chapter 2 Mbeki and the Foreign Policy of Consolidation -- Reconfiguring foreign policy -- Decision-making structures: the changing bureaucratic context -- The new system in operation: the enhanced presidency and the conduct of international relations -- Assessing the foreign policy of consolidation -- Chapter 3 South Africa, SADC and the Great Lakes Region: the Challenge of Conflict -- Keeping SADC united -- Working to resolve institutional problems -- South Africa and the arc of crisis -- Angola -- Congo -- Zimbabwe -- Burundi -- Engagement and disillusionment -- Chapter 4 South Africa, Africa and the South: Leadership and Revival -- South Africa and Southern Africa -- Reflecting the positive: South Africa as a regional pivot -- Reflecting the negative: tensions within SADC -- South Africa and the African continent -- Overhauling the OAU -- South Africa and the south -- Assessing South African leadership of Africa and the south -- Conclusion South Africa and the Future -- Notes.