Power Plays and Balancing Acts: The Paradoxical Effects of Chinese Trade on African Foreign Policy Positions

  • There has been substantial focus on China’s influence in Africa in recent years. Some argue that China’s growing economic ties with African states have increased its political influence across the continent. This article examines whether trade with China leads African states to adopt more similar foreign policy preferences to China in the United Nations. We examine foreign policy similarity using voting patterns in the United Nations General Assembly and country statements in the United Nations General Debate. The analysis demonstrates that more trade with China has paradoxical effects on foreign policy positions of African states—it leads them to align more closely with US foreign policy positions in the United Nations, except on human rights votes. Our findings suggest that African states are engaged in balancing behavior with external powers whereby African elites seek to play off rival powers against one another in order to strengthen their own autonomy and maximize trade.

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Metadaten
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Author(s):Pádraig Carmody, Niheer Dasandi, Slava JankinORCiD
Parent Title (English):Political Studies
Publication year:2019
Publishing Institution:Hertie School
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1177/0032321719840962
Release Date:2019/05/27
Tag:China, Africa, foreign policy preferences, trade, United Nations, General Debate, General Assembly, text analysis
Licence of document (German):Metadaten / metadata
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