'Our Bantustans are Better than Yours': Botswana, The United States, and Human Rights in the 1970s. Issue 5 (20th October 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kirby, James
• Is Part Of: International history review. Volume 39:Issue 5(2017)
• Page Start: 860
• Page End: 884
• Publication Date: 2017-10-20
• Subjects: Botswana -- United States -- human rights -- Africa -- diplomacy; History -- Periodicals; Histoire; History; Internationale politiek; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 905
• DOI: 10.1080/07075332.2017.1283641
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0707-5332

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Many historians have upheld the 1970s as the 'breakthrough' decade for human rights. Botswana was a notable beneficiary of the efflorescence of these principles, especially as human rights gained greater prominence in the foreign policy of the United States (US). From 1966 to 1980, the government of Seretse Khama upheld one of the strongest human rights records of any African state, using it to acquire vital economic aid and psychological encouragement from the West. This study of US–Botswana relations is significant for showing the capacity of an underdeveloped and vulnerable state, surrounded by white minority regimes, to use internationalist ideals to improve its prospects for greater security and prosperity. The research also reveals the limits of Botswana's approach, particularly when the US could not align its strategic interests in Africa with its professed value for human rights. Botswana was therefore exceptional in perceiving its geopolitical priorities as closely tied to its integrity as a self-proclaimed model for non-racial democracy in Southern Africa. The article helps to show how the 1970s human rights movement was not just a Western one or an American one, but a truly transnational one, with unique, though often underappreciated, contributions from those in Africa.