Abstract

This thesis examines Malawi’s foreign policy towards Southern Africa from 1964 to 2007. The paper assesses the political and economic factors and also leadership perception in the shaping of Malawi’s foreign policy in the Southern African regional sub-system. The study uses the dependency and realist approaches to analyses the domestic and international factors that influenced the formulation and implementation of Malawi’s foreign policy towards Southern African. The study observes that Malawi’s foreign policy has been influenced by power politics both as a means to an end and also as a response to an anarchical international system. This analysis adds value to earlier studies on Malawi’s foreign policy, which have mainly focused on personality as a critical determinant of Malawi’s regional approach. The study observes that even though presidential personality has influenced foreign policy decisions, it has not been the single determinant variable. Foreign policy decisions have also been influenced by the cold war, democratisation and bureaucratic factors. Even though the end of the cold war and the attainment of democracy critically reduced the volatility of relations in the region, competition between Malawi and neighbouring states particularly Mozambique and Tanzania continues as a consequence of past relations.

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School	: School of Law, Economics and Government
Issued Date	: 2010

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