Foreign relations of Zaire

From Roach Busters

"Positive non-alignment, or indiscriminate openmindedness to the world, is a fundamental feature of Zaire's foreign policy. To this end, we are exerting ourselves in a bid to promote genuine cooperation among all countries that are willing to accept Zaire for what it is...The debacles that Zaire has faced and continues to face in various areas - colonization, alienation, exploitation, secession, rebellion - are due to the imperialist policies of the superpowers who have assumed the right to govern the world. Thus, we do not want to be involved directly or indirectly in any attempt to subjugate a state or group of states."

Thus spake President Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga, outlining the foreign policy of the Republic of Zaire. According to Mobutu, Zaire's foremost goal in regards to international relations was to be a neutral nation, neither friendly nor hostile to either power bloc, and refusing to intervene in the affairs of other nations. Cynics have noted, however, that his actions have not met his words. While Mobutu professes non-alignment, in reality he has consistently been an avid supporter of the Western world, especially with the former United States, France, and Belgium, until the end of the Cold War deprived them of an excuse to continue propping up his regime as a bulwark against communism.

At times, Mobutu has issued radical, revolutionary rhetoric, in order to foster solidarity with the rest of the Third World. For example, in the early 1970s, he severed relations with Israel, earning as a result lavish aid and praise from the Arab world; accordingly, Mobutu was the only leader of black Africa invited to attend the 1973 Arab summit. He also grew close to the People's Republic of China and North Korea (although he did not establish relations with the former until November 25, 1972; prior to Nixon's visit to China, Sino-Zairian relations were rather cool, due in part to Chinese support for rebels during the 1964-65 insurgencies) and his politics at home took a radical turn, culminating in "Zairianization," "radicalization," and the introduction of the "obligatory civic work" program known as salongo. During this time, the historically warm relationship Zaire had with the West ebbed to a new low; they sank to their lowest depth in 1975, when Mobutu accused the Central Intelligence Agency of masterminding a plot to overthrow him, and expelled several personnel. However, following the ill-fated intervention in Angola and the Shaba invasions, Mobutu became increasingly - and increasingly openly - pro-Western. He resumed ties with Israel in 1982 and provided unwavering support for the West throughout the 1980s, while routinely denouncing communism and pursuing an anti-Soviet stance.

In spite of Mobutu's personal revulsion to communist ideology, ironically, one of his closest allies was Romania, whose autocratic president, Nicolae Ceauşescu, was a personal friend of Mobutu's. He also had relatively warm - but not always good - relations with the neighboring People's Republic of the Congo, though relations did sour from time to time.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, Mobutu lost much of his international standing, and found himself a virtual outcast in the international community.

[edit] International agreements and memberships

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