Publications
Publications
- September 2017 (Revised March 2019)
- HBS Case Collection
Henry Kissinger: Negotiating Black Majority Rule in Rhodesia (A)
By: James K. Sebenius and Laurence A. Green
Abstract
In 1976, a growing crisis in Southern Africa drew the attention of United States Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger. White Rhodesian leader Ian Smith's refusal to accede to black majority rule threatened to widen into a regional conflict involving apartheid South Africa and newly independent leftist African states. Kissinger and others feared that the region was on the brink of becoming a new battleground in the Cold War. In light of these developments Kissinger decided to intervene, seeking a negotiated solution that might bring about a peaceful end to minority rule. The account in this case carefully describes—but does not analyze nor draw lessons from—these challenging circumstances.
Keywords
Equality and Inequality; Race; Negotiation Process; Negotiation Participants; Government and Politics; Africa; United States
Citation
Sebenius, James K., and Laurence A. Green. "Henry Kissinger: Negotiating Black Majority Rule in Rhodesia (A)." Harvard Business School Case 918-003, September 2017. (Revised March 2019.)