For most of the past twelve months, riots, mass arrests and other agonies of domestic unrest have pushed South Africa's frequently uneasy relationship with nearby African states into the background. Last week, however, those tensions resurfaced as 500 South African troops crossed into Angola, purportedly in pursuit of guerrillas fighting for the independence of South-West Africa, or Namibia, a territory controlled by South Africa under a long-expired League of Nations mandate.
The raid struck a blow at the precarious detente that exists between white- ruled South Africa and six neighboring black-governed countries: Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Earlier in...