Africa and the Emerging Powers: Development Challenges and Opportunities

Lecture 6

Source:http://gb.wallpapersking.com

This collection was collated by Xiuli Xu as teaching material on the Emerging Powers and International Development course at the Institute of Development Studies

Contents

Development experiences, opportunities and challenges of BRICS countries, with particular concern of their engagement with African countries.

New trends, strategies, policies and thoughts in African continent due to the engagement of emerging powers: barginging for a better future

1. Development experiences, opportunities and challenges of BRICS countries, with particular concern of their engagement with African countries

• BRICS, individually or collectively, are making major contributions by increasing their links with low-income countries, particularly African countries, impressively over the past decade.

• With the increasing engagement of emerging powers, particularly BRICS countries, individually in Africa, national priprities may create areas of tension within the BRICS grouping as a whole.

Building, blocking, bargaining or balancing

Source:http://news.cpd.com.cn

1. Development experiences, opportunities and challenges of BRICS countries, with particular concern of their engagement with African countries

• Normally regarded as a model of authoritarian capitalism, challenging the US's liberal model.

• Development experiences on both continous soaring economic growth and poverty reduction attractive for African countries, e.g. areas for sharing and collaborating include agricultural sector, infrastructure, business development, policies and innovations, etc.

• A combination of material self-interest and normative concepts for an alternative profile of international relations.

• Much more comprehensive, but still fragmented "strategy" through a multi-layered approach

• Long and strong historic connectivity with Africa

• "Harmonious World", "Peaceful Rising", "World Development", "Soft Power"

• Positioning itself as leader of the developing world, but also considered as a status quo power at least for the next 20 years.

Source:http://baike.baidu.com; http://forum.china.com.cn

1. Internal development experiences, opportunities and challenges of BRICS countries, with particular concern of their engagement with African countries

• Old India's diplomacy, i.e. socialism, limited stress on economics in the persuit of foreign policy, Third Worldism, and anti-Western mode of thinking, is very much alive and kicking today.

• An emerging "Delhi concensus"? "civilizational pride" and "colonial mindset"

• position itself in a swing position in the international balance of power among US, China and Russia.

• Regarded as a revisionist power and main spoiler of the negotiations to further liveralise global trade.

• India's effect on Africa and the idea of developing other societies is less direct than China's.

• India has paradigmatic significance as its is a successful combination of a distinct democratic development and soaring growth rates through its selective and autonomous use of international economic dynammics. Source:http://www.yysl888.com;

http://desk.chinaz.com

1. Internal development experiences, opportunities and challenges of BRICS countries, with particular concern of their engagement with African countries

• Less concerned and discussed generally

• Previous strong power, and re-emerging.

• Rich energy and commodity resources.

Source:http://www.all.biz; http://zone.it.sohu.com

1. Internal development experiences, opportunities and challenges of BRICS countries, with particular concern of their engagement with African countries

• Be able to assert itself primarily in the trade and energy realm, but its multilateral diplomacy within the UN and other security arragement lags substantially.

• Cultural affinity with African countries, due to the role of the Atlantic salve trade ad its part in the wider commercial network of the Portuguese empire.

• Brazil's trade with Africa remains relatively low and focused on only a few countries, whilst at the very same time that Brasilia has actively sought to elevate and integrate Africa into its global foreign policy.

• Largest exporter of agricultural goods in the world, the largest exporter of ethanol, and home to the world's largest carbon sink, the Amazon forest.

• Like Russia, but unlike India and China, Brazil has significant energy and commodity resources of its own, thus making its approach to Africa seem less compulsive or commodity-driven. Source:http://baike.baidu.com;

http://cq.qq.com

1. Internal development experiences, opportunities and challenges of BRICS countries, with particular concern of their engagement with African countries

• Not only be seen as a mere representative of Africa in BRICS, but stands as much for itself as the other countries in the group. At the same time, however, SA's pre-eminent position on the African continent playing both a critical role and a blocking role in multilateral insitutions.

• Growing stature as a major player among developing countries established through its deep invovlement in at least two multilateral forum, namely the WTO and UNFCCC.

• Positioning itself as a prime interlocutor in the North-South dialogue, performing a "gateway function".

• Regarded as "sub-imperialism" rather than "anti-imperialism"

Source:http://blog.sina.com.cn;

http://www.rpgwebgame.com

2. New trends, strategies, policies and thoughts in African continent due to the engagement of emerging powers: barginging for a better future

• Why Africa matters to emerging powers? Contextualising African international relations in the 20th Century

• Revisiting a conundrum: "the one and the many": alterd balance of forces? emerging powers and their test to world hegemony

• Africa's interaction with emerging and established powers int he twenty-first century

- reversing the politics of marginality? "New" Northern engagement with Africa a. G8 Africa Action Plan b. the Commission for Africa - vibrant but competing multilateral linkages a. G20-Finance, Northern and Southern engagement b. new Southern blocs

2. New trends, strategies, policies and thoughts in African continent due to the engagement of emerging powers: barginging for a better future

Case analysis on Africa's potentiality of bargining for a better future in engagement with emerging powers

• e.g.

Paper 1: Cornelissen, S. (2009). Awkward Embraces: Emerging and Established Powers and the Shifting Fortunes of Africa's International Relations in the Twenty-First Century. Politikon, 36(1), 5-26.

Paper 2: Kornegay, F. A., & Landsberg, C. (2009). Engaging Emerging Powers: Africa's Search for a ‘Common Position’. Politikon, 36(1), 171-191.