Prelude to the 1979 Lancaster House Constitutional Conference on Rhodesia: the role of international economic sanctions reconsidered

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Periodical article

Title:	Prelude to the 1979 Lancaster House Constitutional Conference on Rhodesia: the role of international economic sanctions reconsidered
Author:	Mlambo, Alois S.
Year:	2005
Periodical:	Historia: amptelike orgaan
Volume:	50
Issue:	1
Pages:	147-172
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Zimbabwe
Subjects:	economic sanctions Unilateral Declaration of Independence decolonization
Abstract:	This article reexamines the role of international economic sanctions in helping to resolve the Rhodesian political impasse. This situation was the result of the white minority Rhodesian government's unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) from Britain in November 1965. The Rhodesian case is studied in the light of the debate on the efficacy or ineffectiveness of sanctions as a weapon of international diplomacy. The article argues that, while sanctions were neither the only nor the most important factor in bringing the Rhodesian government to a negotiated political settlement at Lancaster House in 1979, they were, nevertheless, a significant factor that worked, in tandem with other factors such as the escalating guerrilla insurgency and mounting international pressure. As a result of this combination of factors, the Rhodesian crisis was brought to an end and Zimbabwe's independence was ushered in in 1980. Notes, ref., sum. in English and Afrikaans [Journal abstract]