Editing Thabo Mbeki (section)

=== Foreign policy ===
[[File:Thabo mbeki n bush.jpg|thumb|241x241px|Mbeki with American President [[George W. Bush]] at the [[White House]], June 2001.]]
[[File:Putin and Mahathir Mohamad in 2003.jpg|thumb|Mbeki with [[President of Russia|Russian President]] [[Vladimir Putin]], [[Prime Minister of Canada|Canadian Prime Minister]] [[Jean Chrétien]] and the [[Prime Minister of Malaysia|Malaysian Prime Minister]] [[Mahathir Mohamad]] in June 2003.]]
According to academic and diplomat [[Gerrit Olivier]], during his presidency Mbeki "succeeded in placing Africa high on the global agenda."<ref name="Olivier-2003" /> He was known for his [[pan-Africanism]], having emphasised related themes both in his famous "[[I Am an African|I am an African]]" speech in 1996 and in his first speech to [[Parliament]] as president in June 1999, when he foregrounded his trademark ideal of an "[[African Renaissance|African renaissance]]".<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Seedat|first1=Mohamed|last2=Suffla|first2=Shahnaaz|last3=Ndlovu-Gatsheni|first3=Sabelo|date=2021-10-02|title=Mbeki's 'I am an African' Speech: Mobilising Psycho-Political Resources for Political Reconstitution of Post-Apartheid South Africa|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/00020184.2021.2012754|journal=African Studies|volume=80|issue=3–4|pages=451–465|doi=10.1080/00020184.2021.2012754|hdl=10500/28511 |s2cid=245272023|issn=0002-0184|hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=1999-06-16|title=Thabo Mbeki's inaugural speech as President of South Africa|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/jun/16/southafrica|access-date=2022-02-04|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref> He advocated for greater solidarity among African countries and, in place of reliance on Western intervention and aid, for greater self-sufficiency for the African continent. Simultaneously, however, he argued for increased [[Development aid|developmental aid]] to Africa.<ref name="Olivier-2003" /> He called for Western leaders to address [[global apartheid]] and unequal development, most memorably in a speech to the [[Earth Summit 2002|World Summit on Sustainable Development]] in [[Johannesburg]] in August 2002.<ref>{{cite web|date=2002-08-30|title=Earth Summit to act on poverty, environment|url=https://peoplesworld.org/article/earth-summit-to-act-on-poverty-environment/|access-date=2022-02-04|website=People's World|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=2002-08-26|title=Call for unified fight to end global poverty – Edinburgh Evening News|url=http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/latestnews/Call-for-unified-fight-to.2355848.jp|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081228101535/http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/latestnews/Call-for-unified-fight-to.2355848.jp|archive-date=28 December 2008|access-date=15 September 2010|work=The Scotsman}}</ref>

==== Africa ====
Although Mbeki also forged strategic individual relationships with key African leaders, especially the heads of state of Nigeria, Algeria, Mozambique, and Tanzania,<ref name="Landsberg-2007" /> perhaps his central foreign policy instrument was [[Multilateralism|multilateral cooperation]]. Mbeki's government, and Mbeki personally, are frequently cited as the single most significant driving force behind the creation in 2001 of the [[New Partnership for Africa's Development]] (NEPAD), which aims to develop a framework for accelerating economic development and cooperation in Africa.<ref name="Vale-2009" /><ref name="Olivier-2003" /><ref name="Landsberg-2007" /><ref name="Sturman-2004">{{Cite conference|last=Sturman|first=Kathryn|date=November 2004|title=Intervention in Africa? The Mbeki Presidency's role in changing the OAU|url=https://afsaap.org.au/assets/sturman.pdf|conference=African Renewal, African Renaissance: New Perspectives on Africa's Past and Africa's Present}}</ref> Olivier calls Mbeki the "seminal thinker" behind NEPAD and its "principal author and articulator".<ref name="Olivier-2003" /> According to academic Chris Landsberg, NEPAD's central principle – "African leaders holding one another accountable in exchange for the recommitment of the industrialised world to Africa's development" – epitomised Mbeki's strategy in Africa.<ref name="Landsberg-2007" /> Mbeki was also involved in the dissolution of the [[Organisation of African Unity]] and its replacement by the [[African Union]] (AU), of which he became the [[Chairperson of the African Union|inaugural chairperson]] in 2002,<ref>{{cite web|title=AU Chairperson|url=https://au.int/en/cpau|access-date=2022-02-04|website=African Union}}</ref> and his government spearheaded the introduction of the AU's [[African Peer Review Mechanism]] in 2003.<ref name="Olivier-2003" /><ref name="Landsberg-2007" /><ref>{{cite web|date=2020-03-27|title=Four Conflict Prevention Opportunities for South Africa's Foreign Policy|url=https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/southern-africa/south-africa/b153-four-conflict-prevention-opportunities-south-africas-foreign-policy|access-date=2022-02-04|website=Crisis Group|language=en}}</ref> He was twice chairperson of the [[Southern African Development Community]] (SADC), first from 1999 to 2000 and second, briefly, in 2008.<ref>{{cite web|title=SADC Chairpersons 1980 – Present|url=https://www.sadc.int/about-sadc/overview/sadc-chairpersons-1980-present/|access-date=2022-02-04|website=Southern African Development Community}}</ref> Through these multilateral organisations and by contributing forces to various [[United Nations]] (UN) peacekeeping missions, Mbeki and his government were involved in [[peacekeeping]] initiatives in African countries including Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and Eritrea, Liberia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Burundi.<ref name="Ozkan-2013" />

==== Global South ====
Outside Africa, Mbeki was the chairperson of the [[Non-Aligned Movement]] between 1999 and 2003 and the chairperson of the [[Group of 77]] + China in 2006.<ref name="Olivier-2003" /><ref>{{cite web|date=2006-09-16|title=Mbeki: South-South cooperation essential|url=https://mg.co.za/article/2006-09-16-mbeki-southsouth-cooperation-essential/|access-date=2022-02-04|website=The Mail & Guardian|language=en-ZA}}</ref> He also pursued [[Global South|South]]-South solidarity in a coalition with India and Brazil under the [[IBSA Dialogue Forum]], which was launched in June 2003 and held its first summit in September 2006.<ref name="Flemes-2009">{{Cite journal|last=Flemes|first=Daniel|date=2009|title=India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) in the New Global Order|url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/002088171004600402|journal=International Studies|volume=46|issue=4|pages=401–421|doi=10.1177/002088171004600402|s2cid=154503704|issn=0020-8817}}</ref> The IBSA countries together pressed for changes in the agricultural subsidy regimes of developed countries at the [[World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 2003|2003 World Trade Organisation conference]], and also pressed for reforms at the UN which would allow developing countries a stronger role.<ref name="Flemes-2009" /><ref>{{cite web|last=Lauria|first=Joe|date=2005-09-16|title=Mbeki slams tepid response to UN reform|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/world/mbeki-slams-tepid-response-to-un-reform-253584|access-date=2022-02-04|website=IOL|language=en}}</ref> Indeed, Mbeki had called for reform at the UN as early as 1999 and 2000.<ref>{{cite web|date=1999-09-21|title=Mbeki calls for UN reform|url=https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/1999/09/21/mbeki-calls-un-reform|access-date=2022-02-04|website=The New Humanitarian|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Kassem|first=Youssef|date=2000-11-12|title=Mbeki calls for reform of United Nations|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/world/mbeki-calls-for-reform-of-united-nations-52885|access-date=2022-02-04|website=IOL}}</ref> [[File:IBSA-leaders.jpg|thumb|Mbeki with Brazilian President [[Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva|Lula da Silva]] and Indian Prime Minister [[Manmohan Singh]] at the second IBSA summit in [[Pretoria]], October 2007.]]In 2007, following a prolonged diplomatic campaign,<ref name="Sturman-2004" /> South Africa secured a non-permanent seat on the [[United Nations Security Council|UN Security Council]] for a two-year term.<ref name="Tryens-Fernandes-2018">{{cite web|date=2018-06-11|title=South Africa Secures Seat on UN Security Council for Third Time|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/06/11/south-africa-secures-seat-un-security-council-third-time|access-date=2022-02-04|website=Human Rights Watch|language=en}}</ref> Controversially, in February 2007, South Africa followed Russia and China in voting against a draft resolution calling for an end to political detentions and military attacks against ethnic minorities in Myanmar.<ref name="Tryens-Fernandes-2018" /><ref>{{cite web|date=2007-01-12|title=Security Council fails to adopt draft resolution on Myanmar, owing to negative votes by China, Russian Federation|url=https://www.un.org/press/en/2007/sc8939.doc.htm|access-date=2022-02-04|website=United Nations}}</ref> Mbeki later told the media that the resolution exceeded the Security Council's mandate, and that its tabling had been illegal in terms of [[international law]].<ref>{{cite web|date=2007-02-12|title=UN acted illegally - Mbeki|url=https://www.news24.com/news24/un-acted-illegally-mbeki-20070211|access-date=2022-02-04|website=News24|language=en-US}}</ref>