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ABSTRACTThe international relations literature on internationalism in foreign policy has nottaken account of the internationalist methods and motives of countries of thedeveloping world. This thesis aims to correct this absence through an analysis ofSouthern internationalism, as evidenced by the foreign policy approaches of SouthAfrica and Brazil in the first decade of the 21st century. By utilising a neoclassicalrealist approach to the study of the emergence of new powers, the use ofinternationalism as a foreign policy tool is interrogated as a response both todomestic imperatives, such as perception and identity, and systemic constraints andopportunities. Central to the analysis is an examination of the role of governingparties in foreign policymaking, both as key actors in determining policy, and as thesources of ideational constructs, in this case ‘internationalism’, that have a bearingon foreign policy.Foreign policymakers are limited in their perceptions and responses to externalthreats and opportunities by the domestic institutional structure, as well as byexternal threats and opportunities. In South Africa, responses are often limited torhetoric, owing to limited resource extraction capacity, in spite of the highlycentralised foreign policymaking structure under Mbeki. In Brazil, constitutionalchecks and balances also limited the state’s responses to external stimuli under Lula;yet, these responses, when they are implemented, can be more forceful owing togreater resource capacity. The ‘new Southern internationalism’, propounded by bothSouth Africa and Brazil, is a function of domestic politics and external pressures, asevidenced by the Haiti case. These findings make a contribution to advancing theanalysis of emerging powers, their trajectory and intentions in internationalrelations, as well as the extent to which governing parties can influence foreignpolicy outcomes, and under which conditions.5