The West faces a critical juncture as China, through its Belt and Road Initiative, expands into Africa to secure resource dominance. With African sovereignty and global order threatened, how can the West reengage Africa? It must leverage China's missteps— bureaucratic inefficiencies, debt-trap diplomacy, and resource extraction reminiscent of colonial France—to foster genuine partnerships. In doing so, the West must advance free-market principles, local human capital development, and sustainable infrastructure projects.
Key Takeaways
- China, through its Belt and Road Initiative, has aggressively expanded into Africa to secure resource dominance, threatening Africa’s sovereignty and the global order. How can the West reengage Africa? Tully provides some new directions for America.
- The US can leverage China’s weaknesses—bureaucratic inefficiencies, debt-trap diplomacy, and resource extraction reminiscent of colonial France—to foster genuine partnerships.
- To take advantage of China’s missteps in Africa, the West must advance free-market principles, local human capital development, and sustainable infrastructure projects.
BRI Colonialism in Africa: China’s Exploits Can Help the West Reengage the Continent by Hoover Institution
