Republic of South Africa as a political and economic power in sub Saharan Africa

In terms of International Relations, power is an important notion as well as difficult to define. Although the definition, factors and method of power vary; globally, having power has always been an objective. As the power struggle of the countries changed shape in time, the notion of soft power emerged and the struggle for power of the countries began to move towards cultural, scientific, social and technological fields. The number of countries trying to obtain regional or global power with the elements of soft power is increasing with the support of their economic and military power resources instead of applying a direct hard force with these power. The Republic of South Africa, which has made significant progress in the Africa, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, is progressing towards its objective of becoming a regional power. After the apartheid regime, the country, which has started to develop in the fields of economic, political and military, has made quite good progress regionally. Moreover, the active role of the Republic of South Africa in regional and global organizations can be described as an indicator of its progress towards becoming a regional power. Therefore, the content of the thesis based on the political, economic and military power of the Republic of South Africa, which aims to become a regional power in Sub-Saharan Africa.