After independence in 1964 the foreign relations of Zambia were mostly focused on supporting anti-colonial and anti-apartheid movements in other countries in Southern Africa, namely the African National Congress, Zimbabwe African People’s Union, and South West Africa People's Organisation. During the Cold War Zambia was a member of the Non-Aligned Movement.
Zambia is a member of 44 international organizations, with the United Nations, World Trade Organization, African Union, Commonwealth of Nations and Southern African Development Community being among the most notable.
Zambia is involved in a border dispute concerning the convergence of the boundaries of Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. An additional dispute with the Democratic Republic of Congo concerns the Lunchinda-Pweto Enclave.
History
After independence in 1964, Zambia was one of the most vocal opponents to white minority rule and colonialism. President Kenneth Kaunda, who held office 1964–1991, was a very visible advocate of change in Southern Africa. He actively supported UNITA during the Angolan liberation and civil war, SWAPO during their fight for Namibian independence from apartheid South Africa, Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), and the African National Congress in their fight against apartheid in South Africa.Andy DeRoche, Kenneth Kaunda, the United States and Southern Africa (London: Bloomsbury, 2016).
Many of these organizations were based in Zambia during the 1970s and 1980s. For this reason South Africa as well as Rhodesia carried out military raids on targets inside Zambia. Zambia's support for the various liberation movements also caused problems for the Zambian economy, since it was heavily dependent on electricity supply and transportation through South Africa and Rhodesia. However these problems was partly solved by the Kariba Dam and the construction of the Chinese supported Tan-Zam railway.
For their part in the liberations struggles, Zambia enjoys wide popularity among the countries they supported as well as all over Africa. For instance, former South African president Nelson Mandela often referred to the debt South Africa owes Zambia.
Before Zambian independence, Kaunda met with John F Kennedy while visiting the United States in 1961, and he would meet with Lyndon Johnson, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush at the White House during his long presidency. He also clashed with British prime minister Margaret Thatcher on several occasions, disliking her policy towards South Africa.
As with most African states, Zambia was a member of the Non-Aligned Movement during the Cold War, and is still today. The country hosted the 3rd Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in 1970. In practice Zambia was more to the left than to the right during the Cold War. The country had good relations with China and with Yugoslavia. Kaunda is famous in Yugoslavia for crying openly at president Josip Broz Tito's funeral.
Kaunda's successor, president Frederick Chiluba (1991–2002), also played an important role in African politics. His government played a constructive regional role sponsoring Angola peace talks that led to the 1994 Lusaka Protocols. Zambia has provided troops to UN peacekeeping initiatives in Mozambique, Rwanda, Angola, and Sierra Leone. Zambia was the first African state to cooperate with the International Tribunal investigation of the 1994 Rwanda genocide.
In 1998, Zambia took the lead in efforts to establish a cease-fire in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Zambia was active in the Congolese peace effort after the signing of a cease-fire agreement in Lusaka in July and August 1999, although activity diminished considerably after the Joint Military Commission tasked with implementing the ceasefire relocated to Kinshasa in September 2001.
International organizations
Zambia is a member of 45 international organisations. These are:
Lomé Convention (ACP) African Development Bank (AfDB) African Union (AU) Commonwealth of Nations (CN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Group of 77 (G-77) International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) International Criminal Court (ICCt) International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) ICRM International Development Association (IDA) International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) International Finance Corporation (IFC) International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRCS) International Labour Organization (ILO) International Monetary Fund (IMF) Interpol International Olympic Committee (IOC) International Organization for Migration (IOM) International Organization for Standardization (ISO, correspondent) International Telecommunication Union (ITU) United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) Southern African Development Community (SADC) United Nations (UN) United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) Universal Postal Union (UPU) WCL World Customs Organization (WCO) World Health Organization (WHO) World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) World Meteorological Organization (WMO) World Tourism Organization (WToO) World Trade Organization (WTrO)
Concerning Zambia's membership in the ICC, Zambia has a Bilateral Immunity Agreement of protection for the United States military from prosecution.
United Nations
Zambia joined the United Nations on 1 December 1964, only a month after the nation had become independent. Zambia has a permanent mission to the UN, with headquarters on 237 East 52nd Street, New York City. The head of the mission is Tens Chisola Kapoma.
Regional diplomacy
Following the independence of Zambia on 24 October 1964, the country has lent military aid and support to numerous movements and governments on the international stage. Most notably, Zambia has a history of providing military aid to combatants and political parties fighting for independence throughout Africa.Tordoff, William (1974). Politics in Zambia. North Manchester: Manchester University Press. pp. 358–362. The aid that Zambia has provided for African nationalistic movements during the colonial era revolves around both military and diplomatic arrangement for liberation and peace.Shaw, Timothy M. "The foreign policy system of Zambia". African Studies Review 19.1 (1976): 31-66. The Zambian Defense Force (ZDF), which consists of the Zambian Army, Zambian Air force and Zambian National Service, has played a key part in a multitude of key regional and international conflicts throughout the 1970s and 1980s.Abrahams, Diane; Cawthra, Gavin; Williams, Rocklyn (2003). Ourselves To Know: Civil-military Relations and Defence Transformation in Southern Africa. Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies South Africa. pp. 3–6. Most notably, the Zambian military has provided counter insurgent efforts during major African confrontations such as the Rhodesian Bush War despite not being the main belligerent.Moorcraft & McLaughlin 2008, pp. 140–143
Zambia has a history of supporting regional liberation movements and Former President Kenneth Kaunda had previously decreed that "Zambia will not be independent and free until the rest of Africa is Free".Musonda, Emelda. "Price Zambia Paid for Africa's Liberation". Zambia Daily Mail, www.daily-mail.co.zm/price-zambia-paid-for-africas-liberation/. As a large central nation, the governability of Zambia relies on the stability and diplomacy of nearby states that surround Zambia. Nevertheless, in the late 1970s, Kaunda's regime actively confronted the so-called "White South" regimes which controlled South Africa, Rhodesia and Namibia, forming part of the Frontline States alliance.Shaw, Timothy M. "Dilemmas of Dependence and (Under) Development: conflicts and choices in Zambia's present and prospective foreign policy". Africa Today 26.4 (1979): 43-65 Regional stability allowed Former President Kenneth Kaunda to maintain power in the relatively poor nation for several decades.Shaw, T. M., & Mugomba, A. T. (1977). The political economy of regional detente: Zambia and southern africa. Journal of African Studies, 4(4), 392
Liberation and political support Zambia received its own liberation from colonialism relatively early from Britain. The newly formed Zambian government under President Kenneth Kaunda of the UNIP party was active in the liberation and disputes of its neighbors for decades following its independence. The Zambian government offered shelter for revolutionaries, mediated treaty signings and offered aid and weapons. The continuation of colonial rule in Southern Africa was seen as a slight to Zambia and inherent feelings of African unity drove the new nation to aid its neighbors resist colonial rule.
Most notably, Zambia was a haven for revolutionaries from the Namibia liberation party, South West African People's Organization (SWAPO) and the African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa. Zambia provided a rear base for revolutionaries as well as administrative and political aid.
SWAPO
The South West African People's Organization (SWAPO) is a political party that was formerly an independence movement based in Namibia. Due to pressures from within Namibia, SWAPO moved its headquarters and much of its forces into neighboring Zambia in the 1970s. Zambia became a safe haven for the group and SWAPO set up guerrilla training camps and sent exiled members into Zambia. The Shipanga Crisis, so named for senior SWAPO leader Andreas Shipanga, saw the Zambian government help round up thousands of dissidents and critics of the movement. SWAPO leaders in Namibia saw growing dissent in the SWAPO installations and guerrilla camps in Zambia, and appealed to then President Kaunda for help. After rounding up thousands of perceived rebels, including Shipanga with the aid of Zambia, SWAPO leadership in Namibia became markedly more authoritarian.
African National Congress The African National Congress was an anti-apartheid political party based in South Africa, with close ideological ties to the Zambian African National Congress of President Kenneth Kaunda."South Africa Bans African National Congress". African American Registry. Retrieved 11 November 2018. When the political party was banned in South Africa by the colonial government, many of its leaders went underground or fled to Zambia.Macmillan, Hugh. "The African National Congress of South Africa in Zambia: The Culture of Exile and the Changing Relationship with Home, 1964-1990". Journal of Southern African Studies, vol. 35, no. 2, 2009, pp. 303–329. Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, became the new headquarters for many ANC leaders in exile from their native South Africa. Zambia thus developed a legacy of being the center of activity for South African liberation and allowed exiled leaders to convene and organize. Former South African President Nelson Mandela had expressed the important role that Zambia played in the liberation of their country during the years of exile."Nelson Mandela's Work and Freedom Would Have Been Difficult If Not for Zambia". New African, 31 July 2018 Zambia's policy of liberation through diplomacy and discreet support for African nationalist movements within the region is most poignant in the South African case.Landsberg, Chris. The Quiet Diplomacy of Liberation: International Politics and South Africa's Transition. Jacana Media, 2004
Zimbabwe