Then Botswana was surrounded by vicious racist regimes of Rhodesia and apartheid South Africa. The geo-political environment of the day threatened the very survival of Botswana as a sovereign nation. Yet Botswana did not lose her unique voice on matters of foreign policy. Seretse Khama chose to be vocal, sharing with the rest of the world his ideals on how human beings ought to live together and manage their differences. Seretse was bold, not a coward, he told the Boers off.
Considering the adverse political environment of the day, Seretse could have easily chosen the comfortable zone of quiet diplomacy. It would have been political expedient to do so. Botswana had a weak and fragile economy. The country depended for economic survival on neighbouring racist regimes. But that did not stop Seretse from making Botswana's voice heard. He had the audacity to tell the world that we cannot be deterred from speaking for what we believe is right by our precarious economic situation". That was Seretse. No politics of the stomach. Even Botswana's military impotence then, could not cow Seretse into submission. This bold approach earned Seretse admiration locally and abroad.
