Foreign Aid and Soft Power: Great Power Competition in Africa in the Early Twenty-first Century

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Robert A. Blair ◽  
Robert Marty ◽  
Philip Roessler
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Aid ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
The United States ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Early Twenty ◽  
Information Management Systems ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Political Principles

Abstract Is foreign aid an effective instrument of soft power? Does it generate affinity for donor countries and the values they espouse? This article answers these questions in the context of Chinese aid to Africa and the competing aid regime of the United States. The study combines data on thirty-eight African countries from Afrobarometer, AidData, and the Aid Information Management Systems of African finance and planning ministries. The authors use spatial difference-in-differences to isolate the causal effects of Chinese and US aid. The study finds that Chinese aid to Africa does not increase (and may in fact reduce) beneficiaries’ support for China. By contrast, US aid appears to increase support for the United States and to strengthen recipients’ commitment to liberal democratic values, such as the belief in the importance of elections. Chinese aid does not appear to weaken this commitment, and may strengthen it. The study also finds that Chinese aid increases support for the UK, France and other former colonial powers. These findings advance our understanding of the conditions under which competing aid regimes generate soft power and facilitate the transmission of political principles and ideals.

scholarly journals The coercive power of shared values

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Ayson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Shared Values ◽  
The Political ◽  
Coercive Power ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Effective Form ◽  
Political Principles ◽  
Trump Administration

While values often evoke noble aims, groups of countries sometimes use statements about the values they share to coerce others. Allies coordinate around their shared values talk to apply reputational pressure on adversaries. Examples include attempts by the United States and its liberal democratic allies in Asia to coerce China and by EU and NATO members to coerce Russia. Shared values talk can also be used to discipline wayward allies who are supposed to be committed to the political principles in question. EU leaders and some of Washington’s NATO allies have sought to place such pressure on the Trump Administration. Participating in shared values talk may also be self-coercive. But if values talk is to be an effective form of coercion, it must impose costs that the target deems important.

Current State of Chinese and USA Healthcare and Corona Care (COVID-19) in Africa

2021 ◽  
pp. 78-94
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
International Development ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Free Market ◽  
The United States ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Partisan Politics ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Free Market Capitalism ◽  
The Usa

As Chinese and African countries grow in trade and economic development so has the soft power dynamics. Healthcare has been an area where the Chinese have dominated the area for the last decade. The USA has been in a decline and has been absent in providing the leadership in healthcare soft power dynamics. The partisan politics in the USA has consumed the United States Agency for International Development bringing an era of Chinese experimentation with a free market (capitalism) and toying with international development superpower status. Yet, there are still areas of improvement for healthcare in Africa between United States America (USA) and China (PRC). Africans have become used to engaging with the Chinese in the hope of meeting their developmental healthcare goals. But the acceptance of the Chinese healthcare and medicine in Africa is a game changer in the healthcare diplomacy arena.

scholarly journals The coercive power of shared values

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Ayson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Shared Values ◽  
The Political ◽  
Coercive Power ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Effective Form ◽  
Political Principles ◽  
Trump Administration

While values often evoke noble aims, groups of countries sometimes use statements about the values they share to coerce others. Allies coordinate around their shared values talk to apply reputational pressure on adversaries. Examples include attempts by the United States and its liberal democratic allies in Asia to coerce China and by EU and NATO members to coerce Russia. Shared values talk can also be used to discipline wayward allies who are supposed to be committed to the political principles in question. EU leaders and some of Washington’s NATO allies have sought to place such pressure on the Trump Administration. Participating in shared values talk may also be self-coercive. But if values talk is to be an effective form of coercion, it must impose costs that the target deems important.

scholarly journals O Período Hegemônico da Década de 1990 e suas Instituições Internacionais: O Caso do Tribunal Penal Internacional l The Hegemonic Period of 1990’s and Its International Institutions: The Case of International Criminal Court

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. e59056
Author(s):  
Hugo Felix
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Critical Theory ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
The United States ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
American Hegemony ◽  
Robert Cox

O presente artigo tem como objetivo questionar o enquadramento genérico dado ao Tribunal Penal Internacional como instituição de governança democrática liberal imposta pela hegemonia estadunidense na década de 1990, utilizando os parâmetros conceituais da Teoria Crítica estabelecida por Robert Cox. São levantados três aspectos: os Estados Unidos não aderiram ao Tribunal; a jurisdição do Tribunal foi concebida majoritariamente por países em desenvolvimento; e grande parte de mandados do TPI são expedidos para o continente africano. Para avaliar essa situação, o artigo se dividirá em duas partes. A primeira consiste na apresentação da abordagem teórica e no enquadramento dos Estados Unidos como ator hegemônico do período a partir dos conceitos de Cox. A segunda apresentará uma análise das negociações para a construção do TPI, assim como das relações dos EUA e dos países africanos com o Tribunal. Por fim, chega-se à conclusão de que que o TPI apresenta caráter peculiar e ambíguo na política internacional.Palavras-chave: Teoria Crítica; Hegemonia; Tribunal Penal Internacional.ABSTRACTThis article aims to question the generic framework given to the International Criminal Court as an institution of liberal democratic governance imposed by American hegemony in the 1990s, using the conceptual parameters of the Critical Theory established by Robert Cox. Three aspects are brought to the debate: the United States did not adhere to the Tribunal; the jurisdiction of the Court was conceived mainly by developing countries; and a large number of ICC warrants are sent to the African continent. To assess this situation, the article will be divided in two parts. The first one consists of presenting the theoretical approach and also focused on framing the United States as a hegemonic actor of the period based on Cox's concepts. The second part will present an analysis of the negotiations to the construction of the ICC, as well as the relations of the US and African countries with the Court. Finally, it is concluded that the ICC is in a peculiar situation and ambiguous in international politics.Keywords: Critical Theory; Hegemony; International Criminal Court. Recebido em: 10/04/2021 | Aceito em: 17/08/2021. 

Parliamentary Sovereignty and the Constitution

2009 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pavlos Eleftheriadis
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Constitution ◽  
Basic Law ◽  
Parliamentary Sovereignty ◽  
The Law ◽  
German Bundestag ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Higher Law ◽  
Political Principles

The doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty of the United Kingdom parliament is often presented as a unique legal arrangement, one without parallel in comparative constitutional law. By giving unconditional power to the Westminster parliament, it appears to rule out any comparison between the Westminster Parliament and the United States Congress or the German Bundestag, whose powers are limited by their respective constitutions. Parliament in the UK appears to determine the law unconditionally and without limit. Nevertheless, a fuller understanding of parliamentary sovereignty as a legal and constitutional doctrine shows that this first impression is false. The nature of the British unwritten constitutional order is entirely similar to the written one prevailing in the United States or Germany. This is because the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty, contrary to Dicey’s classic view, does not consist in a single dominant idea but in a number of related and mutually supporting principles that constitute higher law. The way in which these principles interact is parallel to the interaction of the main clauses of the United States Constitution or the German Basic Law. This analysis shows that the constitution, written or unwritten, never requires a ‘pouvoir constituent‘. The constitution emerges from the law as the result of moral and political principles that breathe life into our public institutions.

‘To see oursels as ithers see us’: Reflections on Scottish Independence from the United States

2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 381-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Euan Hague ◽  
Alan Mackie
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Us ◽  
Scottish Independence ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Scottish Diaspora

The United States media have given rather little attention to the question of the Scottish referendum despite important economic, political and military links between the US and the UK/Scotland. For some in the US a ‘no’ vote would be greeted with relief given these ties: for others, a ‘yes’ vote would be acclaimed as an underdog escaping England's imperium, a narrative clearly echoing America's own founding story. This article explores commentary in the US press and media as well as reporting evidence from on-going interviews with the Scottish diaspora in the US. It concludes that there is as complex a picture of the 2014 referendum in the United States as there is in Scotland.

Science, Politics, and the Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 119 (820) ◽  
pp. 303-309
Author(s):  
J. Nicholas Ziegler
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Biomedical Research ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Political Leadership ◽  
The United States ◽  
Scientific Advice ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Effective Policy ◽  
Scientific Expertise ◽  
The Uk

Comparing the virus responses in Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States shows that in order for scientific expertise to result in effective policy, rational political leadership is required. Each of these three countries is known for advanced biomedical research, yet their experiences in the COVID-19 pandemic diverged widely. Germany’s political leadership carefully followed scientific advice and organized public–private partnerships to scale up testing, resulting in relatively low infection levels. The UK and US political responses were far more erratic and less informed by scientific advice—and proved much less effective.

Liberal Internationalism from George W. Bush to Barack Obama

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony Smith
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Barack Obama ◽  
Democratic Peace ◽  
War On Terrorism ◽  
Global War On Terrorism ◽  
Liberal Internationalism ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Global War

This chapter examines the United States' liberal democratic internationalism from George W. Bush to Barack Obama. It first considers the Bush administration's self-ordained mission to win the “global war on terrorism” by reconstructing the Middle East and Afghanistan before discussing the two time-honored notions of Wilsonianism espoused by Democrats to make sure that the United States remained the leader in world affairs: multilateralism and nation-building. It then explores the liberal agenda under Obama, whose first months in office seemed to herald a break with neoliberalism, and his apparent disinterest in the rhetoric of democratic peace theory, along with his discourse on the subject of an American “responsibility to protect” through the promotion of democracy abroad. The chapter also analyzes the Obama administration's economic globalization and concludes by comparing the liberal internationalism of Bush and Obama.

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