Liberating Namibia: the long diplomatic struggle between the United Nations and South Africa

摘要

This monograph is based on an earlier doctoral dissertation, 'South West Africa People's Organization of Namibia as a non-state actor in the Namibian issue'. It has shifted its focus to 'a special context of a conflict-resolution scheme that taxed the diplomatic and political wit of some major international actors' (1). The emphasis on international diplomacy and especially the negotiations between the United Nations, South Africa and the liberation movement SWAPO is enhanced with the inclusion of the original documents that were relevant for the Namibian independence process since the League of Nations and the establishment of the UN Trusteeship Council. However, the book, one third of which consists of appendices (as well as many more pages containing the reproduction of relevant documents), remains disappointingly descriptive and lacks analytical depth. Much to the surprise of this reviewer, the Nigerian author fails to give sufficient recognition to the roles played by the frontline states in the negotiations during the 1980s and, even more surprisingly, the relevance of Nigeria's mediation under the then military junta led by Obasanjo.