April 05, 2021
Grooming Autocrats
U.S.-China great-power competition in Africa is well under way. In recent years, China has significantly advanced its strategic economic, political, and military interests across the continent. Beijing has used its wide-ranging Belt and Road Initiative and other means of economic engagement to expand influence and market access globally, including in sub-Saharan Africa. This is not news. Less reported is that China is increasing its influence over governments and elites across Africa, impairing budding democratic practices along the way.
America’s increasing focus on rivalry with China ensures that U.S. Africa policy will continue to be viewed, at least in part, through a China lens.
Chinese government-linked entities are exploiting and exacerbating “governance gaps” in vulnerable countries, using corruption and a lack of transparency to conclude deals that undermine political accountability and ensure China’s long-term influence. Beijing is also coopting journalists and using targeted propaganda and investments in the media sector to shape the information environment to its advantage in places across Africa.
America’s increasing focus on rivalry with China ensures that U.S. Africa policy will continue to be viewed, at least in part, through a China lens. It is critical, however, that the new Biden Administration avoid approaches that have led to failures in the past, including adopting an overly “securitized” approach to the continent and making generalizations about “debt-trap diplomacy” while overlooking Beijing’s efforts to undermine governance and coopt African elites.
Read the full article from American Purpose.
More from CNAS
-
Ex-NATO Official: Putin Is ‘Stringing Along Trump’ to Push for Sanctions Relief
Jim Townsend, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, weighs in on peace talks after the Putin-Zelenskyy-Trump call and whether the U.S. is failing...
By Jim Townsend
-
What Ukraine and Russia are Negotiating in Turkey
Direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul this week – the first since March 2022 – have got off to a shaky start. Putin’s no-show meant President Zelenskyy remained ...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend
-
Putin Desperate to Maintain Fractured Relationship with Trump | Jim Townsend
Trump could push Putin further to "get on board" with a 30 day ceasefire as Russia grow more keen grow a relationship with the US, says Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for...
By Jim Townsend
-
Ukraine Negotiates for Its Future
There’s been a flurry of activity on the Ukraine front this week. Over the weekend, Donald Trump briefly met with Zelensky in Rome during ceremonies for Pope Francis’ funeral....
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend