Western Diplomacy

• By 1978 South Africa was apart of the international web of international trade - wealthy South Africa whites had grown to the foreign goods - they needed Botha to persuade Western leaders to continue trade with South Africa
• UN, the commonwealth and black South African leaders were stepping up their call for sanctions - also many ordinary people were putting pressure on their governments
• Botha’s Total Strategy for Western leaders was to play on their worries of the communist threat - he had help from two western leaders in 1980s; Ronald Regan (US president from 1980-88), and margaret Thatcher (Prime Minister of Britain from 1979-90) - both very anti-communist
• Neither Reagan or Thatcher liked principes to get in the way of trade and business - they were ready to hear what botha had to say and strongly resisted pressure for sanctions from the UN, the Commonwealth, and their own peoples