International records / Foreign Relations of the United States

53. Editorial Note

Indian Ocean and around the Cape.” National Security Council staff member Helmut Sonnenfeldt felt this reflected the further assessment that “South Africa can be counted on as a reliable partner in the future and the black Africans (except possibly Nigeria) cannot.” The policy provoked significant opposition throughout the Commonwealth, particularly in Parliament, in members of Heath ’s government (including Douglas-Home and Lord Carrington), and in Africa. Indeed, India argued that the Indian Ocean should be free of great powers altogether. Sonnenfeldt noted that U.S. interests would suffer f…