The United States Arms Embargo Against South Africa: An Analysis of the Laws, Regulations, and Loopholes

Abstract

With reports of violence and unrest in the Republic of South Africa a daily feature in American newspapers, public attention in the United States has increasingly focused on a variety of American efforts to bring an end to apartheid. Little discussed in the ongoing debate over imposition of new measures is the sanction that the United States has maintained for the past twenty-three years: the South African arms embargo. How effective has this sanction been in denying South Africa access to items with military utility? Are there ways to strengthen the arms embargo so that it achieves greater success?