Panel 1: Europe and China in Africa: Security and Development Implications
Panel organisers: Daniel Bach (Univ. of Bordeaux, France) and Catherine Gegout (Univ. of Nottingham, UK)
Contact: d.bach@sciencespobordeaux.fr
| The spectacular re-engagement of China in Africa since the turn of the new Millenium and the EU's conclusion of a 'strategic' partnership with Africa in December 2007 illustrate, each in their own way, the renewed strategic significance gained by Africa within the global economy and international relations in general. The purpose of the panel is to review the patterns of expression and implication of a momentum that also conveys distinctive conceptualizations of what security, development, political conditionality or aid should mean. The panel will also seek to discuss how the opportunities and rivalries associated with these changing interactions are being instrumentalised by African states, business groups and civil society in general. For Africa’s commodity exporting countries, new resources and improved terms of trade mean unprecedented opportunities for the restructuring of their economies, so as to reduce dependency on highly volatile prices of (essentially) non-renewable commodities. In addition to this, the issue of the dissociated implications of the global financial crisis for China, Africa and Europe also contributes to stimulate transformations in the patterns of Africa's interactions and engagement within the international system. |