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South Africa is/was a western ally. And the West did ignore apartheid for a long time.
by eatonphil 5y ago
South Africa is/was a western ally. And the West did ignore apartheid for a long time.
- School-Cotton 5y ago> South Africa is/was a western ally. Maybe, but not one of nearly the same strategic importance (and lobbying/PR prowess) as Israel.
- deepsun 5y agoSouth Africa abstained to vote on UN resolution against Russian large attack on Ukraine. West didn't ignore apartheid, they quietly supported it, because USSR supported Mandela and anti-apartheid struggle. Kinda "enemy of my enemy is my friend". IMHO that was the stupidest position of the US, they should've "united" with USSR on anti-apartheid position.
- SideburnsOfDoom 5y agoWhen one factor "Capitalism vs. Communism" is the lens through which you view the world, then "are they on our side" becomes more important than "are they good people". That is why the west supported some terrible regimes, including Apartheid South Africa and Pinochet in Chile. Because they could claim to be "anti-communist".
- deepsun 5y agoYes. And on the other hand, USSR supported a ton of very terrible regimes. Like cannibal Bokassa in Central African Republic.
- SideburnsOfDoom 5y agoThe old regime in south Africa prior to 1994 was a "western ally". Reagan and Thatcher turned a blind eye to Apartheid (and sometime supported it) because the South African government was "anti-communist", or at least they dressed their oppression in that language of "total onslaught of Soviet communism" and that was more important to the west. The new regime in south Africa has some nostalgia for the assistance offered to them by the USSR back then, that is why they abstained on the vote on UN resolution against Russian attack on Ukraine. In some ways it was a proxy war.