USIP and Beyond Conflict discussed lessons learned from South Africa’s transformation experience with some of the key negotiators during the transition, from both the African National Congress and National Party.

Lessons
Pictured from left to right, Tim Phillips, Ambassador Princeton Lyman, Roelf Meyer, Mohammed Bhabha, Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool

South Africa’s remarkable transition from apartheid to majority rule in the 1990s has often been referenced as a model for other countries in need of significant reform and grappling with a bloody past.  The recent passing of Nelson Mandela has renewed interest in the country’s transformation.  But there remain unanswered questions concerning whether the processes that worked in South Africa and lessons learned are applicable in other contexts.  Can the South African experience be replicated?  Twenty years after Mandela was elected president, is the South African model still relevant in today’s world?  What messages do the transition leaders have for countries struggling with their own transitions?

Panelists

Roelf Meyer
Former Chief National Party Negotiator and Minister of Constitutional Affairs 

Mohammed Bhabha
Chairperson of Senate Select Committee on Constitutional Affairs and former ANC negotiator

Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool
Republic of South Africa Ambassador to the United States

Tim Phillips, Introductory Remarks
Chairman and Co-Founder, Beyond Conflict

Ambassador Princeton Lyman, Moderator
Senior Advisor, U.S. Institute of Peace & former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of South Africa

Related Publications

What’s Driving a Bigger BRICS and What Does it Mean for the U.S.?

What’s Driving a Bigger BRICS and What Does it Mean for the U.S.?

Thursday, October 17, 2024

Leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) will gather in Kazan, Russia, next week for the group’s annual summit, along with an expanded roster of members. This is the first BRICS summit since Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE joined earlier this year. Russia, which holds the BRICS presidency this year, has also invited over two dozen other countries, which have expressed interest in joining the group, for the first “BRICS+” summit. For President Vladimir Putin, hosting this summit is an opportunity to show that Western efforts to isolate Moscow for its illegal war on Ukraine have not been successful and that Russia has friends around the globe.

Type: Analysis

Global Policy

India’s BRICS Balancing Act

India’s BRICS Balancing Act

Thursday, October 17, 2024

Leaders of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) will meet in Kazan, Russia from October 22-24 for the 16th BRICS Summit. BRICS will welcome its five new members (Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates), with at least 24 other prospective members joining the summit. As BRICS expands and looks to become a more influential player in world affairs, India faces the increasingly complicated task of continuing to deepen ties with the United States and play a leading role in Russian- and Chinese-dominant global forums, like BRICS.

Type: Question and Answer

Global Policy

How Nelson Mandela’s Legacy Still Resonates for Youth Movements

How Nelson Mandela’s Legacy Still Resonates for Youth Movements

Wednesday, November 22, 2023

As December marks 10 years since the passing of Nelson Mandela, an icon of 20th-century struggles for justice and peace, a new generation of activists is building from his legacy to counter our 21st-entury crises of rising global violence. Among the signs of Mandela’s vital relevance for us now is a global, online conference to bolster nonviolent social action in pursuit of justice and peace that opens December 7, hosted by the Stanford University-based World House Project with partner groups from South Africa, India, Mexico and elsewhere.

Type: Analysis

Nonviolent Action

Sameer Lalwani on the G20 Summit

Sameer Lalwani on the G20 Summit

Tuesday, September 5, 2023

At the G20 summit, the United States should focus on engaging with the Global South. “A lot of these countries are worried about bread-and-butter issues,” says USIP’s Sameer Lalwani. “In the absence of U.S. leadership at an institutional level … there’s going to be other actors that fill that vacuum.”

Type: Podcast

View All Publications