ABSTRACT The South African state considers its foreign relations as a means to an end. That end – the national interest – is articulated as developing the economy to address issues of poverty and underdevelopment inherited from years of oppressive and exploitative ‘foreign’ rule, and eventually to ‘build a better South Africa, in a better and safer world’. This article draws on IR theories of ontological security to explore how the South African state arrived at articulating this national interest by first looking at the ways in which historic relationships with states of the Global North have shaped the South African identity, and then asking to what extent South Africa expects states of the North to contribute toward the achievement of this goal as a form of restitution for the perceived injustices of the age of European imperialism.

中文翻译：

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作为南非外交主题的正义和恢复原状：寻求本体安全

摘要 南非国家将其对外关系视为达到目的的手段。这一目的——国家利益——被阐明为发展经济以解决多年来压迫性和剥削性的“外国”统治遗留下来的贫困和不发达问题，并最终“在一个更美好、更安全的世界中建设一个更美好的南非”。本文借鉴本体安全的 IR 理论，通过首先研究与全球北方国家的历史关系塑造南非身份的方式，然后询问南非国家如何表达这一国家利益，然后询问什么南非希望北方国家为实现这一目标做出贡献，作为对欧洲帝国主义时代所感知到的不公正的一种补偿形式。