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High Noon In Southern Africa: Making Peace in a Rough Neighborhood
During the 1980s, a wave of strife threatened to engulf the nations of Southern Africa. Chester Crocker embarked on an eight-year diplomatic marathon to bring peace to the truculent neighbours. Despite all the obstacles to resolving the complex conflict, the Crocker strategy worked. This narrative tells how peace (almost) came to Angola and why South Africa let Namibia have its independence. This book is aimed at professional diplomats and lay readers alike.
- GenresAfrica
534 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1993
About the author
Chester A. Crocker
25 books7 followersChester Arthur Crocker (born October 29, 1941) is the James R. Schlesinger professor of strategic studies at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service and serves on the board of its Institute for the Study of Diplomacy. Dr. Crocker’s teaching and research focus on international security and conflict management.
From 1981 to 1989, Dr. Crocker served as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. He developed the strategy and led the diplomacy that produced the treaties signed by Angola, Cuba, and South Africa in New York in December 1988. These agreements resulted in Namibia’s independence (March 1990) and the withdrawal of foreign forces from Namibia and Angola. President Ronald Reagan granted him the President’s Citizens Medal, the country’s second highest civilian award.
Dr. Crocker chaired the board of the United States Institute of Peace (1992-2004) and continued to serve as a director of this independent, nonpartisan institution through 2011. He serves on the boards of Universal Corporation, Inc., a leading independent trading company in leaf tobacco and agricultural products; and the Good Governance Group Ltd, a strategic advisory consultancy service. He is a member of the World Bank’s Independent Advisory Board on governance and anti-corruption; is a founding member of the Global Leadership Foundation, a leading international NGO that advises leaders facing governance and conflict challenges; and also serves on the international advisory board of International Affairs (London). Dr. Crocker consults as advisor on strategy and negotiation to a number of U.S. and European firms.
Dr. Crocker’s previous professional experience includes service as news editor of Africa Report magazine (1968-69) and staff officer at the National Security Council (1970-72) where he worked on Middle East, Indian Ocean, and African issues. He first joined Georgetown University as director of its Master of Science in Foreign Service program, serving concurrently as associate professor of international relations (1972-80). He served as director of African studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (1976-80).
Dr. Crocker lectures and writes on international politics, U.S. foreign policy, conflict management and security issues, and African affairs. He has appeared on numerous television shows, as a dinner or keynote speaker at conferences in the U.S., Europe and Africa, and as a witness in Congressional hearings. His book, High Noon in Southern Africa: Making Peace in a Rough Neighborhood, was published by Norton in 1993. He is the co-author of Taming Intractable Conflicts: Mediation in the Hardest Cases (2004) and co-editor with Fen O. Hampson and Pamela Aall of: Rewiring Regional Security in a Fragmented World (2011), Leashing the Dogs of War: Conflict Management in a Divided World (2007), Grasping the Nettle: Analyzing Cases of Intractable Conflict (2005), Turbulent Peace: The Challenges of Managing International Conflict (2001), Herding Cats: Multiparty Mediation in a Complex World (1999) and Managing Global Chaos: Sources of and Responses to International Conflict (1996).
From 1981 to 1989, Dr. Crocker served as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. He developed the strategy and led the diplomacy that produced the treaties signed by Angola, Cuba, and South Africa in New York in December 1988. These agreements resulted in Namibia’s independence (March 1990) and the withdrawal of foreign forces from Namibia and Angola. President Ronald Reagan granted him the President’s Citizens Medal, the country’s second highest civilian award.
Dr. Crocker chaired the board of the United States Institute of Peace (1992-2004) and continued to serve as a director of this independent, nonpartisan institution through 2011. He serves on the boards of Universal Corporation, Inc., a leading independent trading company in leaf tobacco and agricultural products; and the Good Governance Group Ltd, a strategic advisory consultancy service. He is a member of the World Bank’s Independent Advisory Board on governance and anti-corruption; is a founding member of the Global Leadership Foundation, a leading international NGO that advises leaders facing governance and conflict challenges; and also serves on the international advisory board of International Affairs (London). Dr. Crocker consults as advisor on strategy and negotiation to a number of U.S. and European firms.
Dr. Crocker’s previous professional experience includes service as news editor of Africa Report magazine (1968-69) and staff officer at the National Security Council (1970-72) where he worked on Middle East, Indian Ocean, and African issues. He first joined Georgetown University as director of its Master of Science in Foreign Service program, serving concurrently as associate professor of international relations (1972-80). He served as director of African studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (1976-80).
Dr. Crocker lectures and writes on international politics, U.S. foreign policy, conflict management and security issues, and African affairs. He has appeared on numerous television shows, as a dinner or keynote speaker at conferences in the U.S., Europe and Africa, and as a witness in Congressional hearings. His book, High Noon in Southern Africa: Making Peace in a Rough Neighborhood, was published by Norton in 1993. He is the co-author of Taming Intractable Conflicts: Mediation in the Hardest Cases (2004) and co-editor with Fen O. Hampson and Pamela Aall of: Rewiring Regional Security in a Fragmented World (2011), Leashing the Dogs of War: Conflict Management in a Divided World (2007), Grasping the Nettle: Analyzing Cases of Intractable Conflict (2005), Turbulent Peace: The Challenges of Managing International Conflict (2001), Herding Cats: Multiparty Mediation in a Complex World (1999) and Managing Global Chaos: Sources of and Responses to International Conflict (1996).
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 15, 2026
pretty much the only book I think he should have written
Reagan and Mulroney in Canada all wanted virtue signalling with South Africa, and all that human rights bullcrap, yet the political chessboard of Southern Africa was pretty interesting and strange throughout all the 1970s, as well as being friendly to both sides in South Africa when the winds were changing before and after DeClerk.
My interest was more with Rhodesia and Ian Smith, and Huntington's role in helping out South Africa during the 1970s
South Africa's best leadership was with Jan Christiaan Smuts, but I think in the long-term, 60s 70s Pretoria will get a slightly fairer shake. Maybe not for its intelligence services or any biological weapons programs, or similar with the Broederbund.
"Samuel Huntington, a prominent U.S. political scientist, advised the South African apartheid regime in the early 1980s, applying his theories on political order to manage reform while maintaining stability. He aimed to help the government suppress rising resistance and transition to a more stable system, drawing sharp criticism for justifying the apartheid regime's stability."
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Library Journal
These memoirs from an Assistant Secretary of State of African Affairs during the Reagan administration are a welcome insight into the complex negotiations and justifications that the administration maintained in dealing with major foreign policy issues: U.S. sanctions against South Africa, military support for rebels in Angola, and the independence of Namibia.
Crocker describes his role and that of the United States as one of peacekeeping among regional warring parties and provides elaborate details of the diplomatic craft involved. But for millions of people in southern Africa, the United States was seen as actively contributing to the violence and deadlock.
Thus, the book is important as an account from within the foreign policy establishment, although subsequent analyses are likely to take exception to many of Crocker's views.
Recommended for large libraries with African and foreign relations collections.
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The wilde Amazone
Long Winded
6/10
Not exactly a page turner, but it does provide a detailed account of events during the 80's in Angola and Namibia, albeit a very one sided view. I used this for graduate research, so it was very effective for that purpose. I would not recommend it for casual reading.
Lee Jordan
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Doing the Right Thing at the Wrong Time
6/10
High Noon in Southern Africa is the story of Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Chester Crocker's efforts to negotiate a Cuban withdrawal from Angola and a South African withdrawal from Namibia during the Reagan Administration. The effort took almost eight years, making him the longest serving Assistant Sec'y for African Affairs.
During the middle his efforts were complicated by the drive for economic sanctions against Pretoria over its apartheid policy. South Africa was a hot button issue for American politics in the 1980s: conservatives saw Pretoria as a loyal ally in the fight against Soviet expansionism and Marxism; liberals saw Pretoria as a major violator of human rights and an embarassment to the West.
The United Nations had revoked Pretoria's League of Nations mandate to administer Namibia--dating back to 1920, in the 1960s and Pretoria occupied Namibia in defiance of the UN.
Crocker decided that Pretoria could be compelled to withdraw only by neutralizing the Cuban threat in Angola.
His efforts were complicated by the ongoing Angolan civil war with South Africa supporting rebel leader Jonas Savimbi and UNITA against the ruling MPLA regime.
The book is the story of how he overcame all of these obstacles. This book should be required reading for all diplomats dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Thomas Mitchell
/////
Reagan and Mulroney in Canada all wanted virtue signalling with South Africa, and all that human rights bullcrap, yet the political chessboard of Southern Africa was pretty interesting and strange throughout all the 1970s, as well as being friendly to both sides in South Africa when the winds were changing before and after DeClerk.
My interest was more with Rhodesia and Ian Smith, and Huntington's role in helping out South Africa during the 1970s
South Africa's best leadership was with Jan Christiaan Smuts, but I think in the long-term, 60s 70s Pretoria will get a slightly fairer shake. Maybe not for its intelligence services or any biological weapons programs, or similar with the Broederbund.
"Samuel Huntington, a prominent U.S. political scientist, advised the South African apartheid regime in the early 1980s, applying his theories on political order to manage reform while maintaining stability. He aimed to help the government suppress rising resistance and transition to a more stable system, drawing sharp criticism for justifying the apartheid regime's stability."
/////
Library Journal
These memoirs from an Assistant Secretary of State of African Affairs during the Reagan administration are a welcome insight into the complex negotiations and justifications that the administration maintained in dealing with major foreign policy issues: U.S. sanctions against South Africa, military support for rebels in Angola, and the independence of Namibia.
Crocker describes his role and that of the United States as one of peacekeeping among regional warring parties and provides elaborate details of the diplomatic craft involved. But for millions of people in southern Africa, the United States was seen as actively contributing to the violence and deadlock.
Thus, the book is important as an account from within the foreign policy establishment, although subsequent analyses are likely to take exception to many of Crocker's views.
Recommended for large libraries with African and foreign relations collections.
/////
The wilde Amazone
Long Winded
6/10
Not exactly a page turner, but it does provide a detailed account of events during the 80's in Angola and Namibia, albeit a very one sided view. I used this for graduate research, so it was very effective for that purpose. I would not recommend it for casual reading.
Lee Jordan
/////
Doing the Right Thing at the Wrong Time
6/10
High Noon in Southern Africa is the story of Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Chester Crocker's efforts to negotiate a Cuban withdrawal from Angola and a South African withdrawal from Namibia during the Reagan Administration. The effort took almost eight years, making him the longest serving Assistant Sec'y for African Affairs.
During the middle his efforts were complicated by the drive for economic sanctions against Pretoria over its apartheid policy. South Africa was a hot button issue for American politics in the 1980s: conservatives saw Pretoria as a loyal ally in the fight against Soviet expansionism and Marxism; liberals saw Pretoria as a major violator of human rights and an embarassment to the West.
The United Nations had revoked Pretoria's League of Nations mandate to administer Namibia--dating back to 1920, in the 1960s and Pretoria occupied Namibia in defiance of the UN.
Crocker decided that Pretoria could be compelled to withdraw only by neutralizing the Cuban threat in Angola.
His efforts were complicated by the ongoing Angolan civil war with South Africa supporting rebel leader Jonas Savimbi and UNITA against the ruling MPLA regime.
The book is the story of how he overcame all of these obstacles. This book should be required reading for all diplomats dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Thomas Mitchell
/////
Displaying 1 of 1 review