Africa faces gunboat diplomacy without the gunboats

The United States has recently introduced visa restrictions on nationals from seven African countries, including Chad, the Republic of the Congo, and Sudan. The policy has been a tool of "gunboat diplomacy without the gunboats" - a strategy rooted in the British Royal Navy's approach during the 19th century, exemplified by Commodore Matthew Perry's arrival in Japan with warships in 1853.

The US administration, under President Donald Trump, uses these restrictions to assert its influence on foreign policy and to respond to perceived inadequacies in security, screening, and visa overstay issues. The restrictions, however, contain exceptions and impose partial restrictions on other African nations, such as Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, thereby demonstrating the power that comes with controlling access.

South Africa serves as a significant case study in this context. Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently announced visa restrictions targeting individuals involved in policies that enable uncompensated land seizures, racial discrimination, or the incitement of violence against minority groups. The vague nature of these restrictions allows the US to target anyone from legislators to bureaucrats and other officials.

Prof. Piet Croucamp, a political analyst from the North-West University, argues that these restrictions are an instrument of political leverage, giving Washington the flexibility to target anyone deemed harmful to US foreign policy interests. This, in turn, raises concerns about access to a powerful country becoming conditional on accepting the US interpretation of domestic policy, diplomatic priorities, and preferred partnerships.

For African governments, the concern extends beyond whether a minister can board a flight to Washington. It is about whether access to a powerful country becomes conditional on accepting a foreign power's interpretation of domestic policy, diplomatic priorities, and preferred partnerships. The underlying vulnerability lies in the fact that these measures may not necessarily be seen as equivalent to tariffs affecting entire industries.

However, escalation from visa restrictions to trade measures could prove far more damaging to South Africans than a visa ban alone. This broader relationship matters more than the visa restrictions, as workers, exporters, and their families become exposed to confrontations conducted in the language of national interests.