Chester Crocker, who was Ronald Reagan’s Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, has an op-ed piece advising President Obama on the idea of “engagement” with Iran and, presumably, others. Crocker’s article itself is not bad (nor is it earth-shatteringly good) but perhaps we should consider the source. Crocker is an incredibly smart and talented guy. But he will be forever associated with the idea of “Constructive Engagement” with Apartheid South Africa, a concept that he did not invent but for which he became the biggest advocate, defender, and implementer. To this day he still defends it, the demonstrable noxiousness of the policy with regard to South Africa and the rather clear evidence of the effect that sanctions ended up having on Pretoria notwithstanding. He hangs his hat mostly on the successes the policy had with regard to Namibia, which shows a remarkable lack of perspective. Yes, Namibia was important. But in no way, shape, or form was it as crucial or as tragic as South Africa in the 1980s, the decade when the Reagan Administration fiddled as South Africa burned.
