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The article offers information on the proposed Asia-Africa Growth Corridor (AAGC), which refers to a collaborative vision shared by India and Japan to create a growth corridor and industrial network connecting Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia and Africa across the Indo-Pacific region. Topics discussed include the policy motivation for AACG, the possibility of the AAGC's final materialization, and the impact of AACG on China's Belt and Road Initiative.

This paper attempts to assess the civilian character of Turkey's political economy in sub-Saharan Africa with a special focus on its trade policy towards African countries. It also seeks to explore the degree to which its trade policies towards the continent contribute to the construction of a civilian foreign policy. Additionally, this study delves into the linkages between "power and trade" and between "civilian power and trade". Assuming that Turkey is not usually conceived as a traditional civilian power in the IR literature and political debates, this paper aims to fill the lacuna in the existing literature focusing on the impact of trade on the making of civilian power. Applying Maull's threefaceted framework of civilian power characteristics (cooperation, use of economic means, development of supranational structures), this study concludes that in Turkey's emerging "civilian power" objectives, trade's role is larger in the use of economic means for securing national goals and cooperation in the pursuit of international objectives than in the development of supranational structures for international management level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In their respective struggles for liberation the Asians and Africans, as oppressed people, joined forces in the first half of the 20th century by forming several pre-Bandung organizations. On the African side people of African descent, from the continent and the Diaspora, united to provide the leadership for substantive participation to the common African-Asian front that led to the Bandung conference of April 18-24 1955. The intelligentsia of African descent, including young students in Western Europe and the United States, played leadership roles in shaping the movements. Among them are W. E. B. Du Bois of the United States and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana. In terms of the post-Bandung establishment of enduring legacies, it is worth indicating that the resolutions and some of their applications led to global coalitions including the Non-Aligned Movement and G77 within the United Nations. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary that was marked by the April 22-24 2005 Asian-African Summit held in Indonesia African and Asian leaders decided to rekindle the spirit of Bandung and renew their commitment to attain its goal through renewed cooperation between Asia and Africa in adopting the New Asian-African Strategic Partnership (NAASP). Despite the continued challenges that African countries face in varying degrees, a regained confidence building on their assets, especially with different generations of people of the continent and historic and recent Diaspora, with it would be possible to build a global front toward the reaffirmation of global common humanity guided by the spirit of Bandung. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an overview of Turkey's recently increased engagement in Africa in terms of the potential, limits and future perspectives of relations. It aims to examine Turkey's foreign policy toward Africa and to analyze the driving force behind this foreign policy between 2001 and 2010. The maidens of Turkish Foreign Policy towards African countries have been analyzed as official initiatives and supplementary efforts that demonstrate significant dynamism of Turkish Non- Governmental Organizations (NGOs). The evidences show that Turkish foreign policy has been managed consistently; and as a result of this, improvements on relations are clearly recorded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In seeking to maintain their power, many African regimes rely on strategies of extraversion, converting their dependent relations with the external world into domestic resources and authority. This article assesses the relationship between extraversion and political liberalization, a dimension of African democratization that has been somewhat underappreciated in recent empirical studies. African countries vary in their extraversion portfolios, or the dimensions of their relations to the outside world that they can instrumentalize, and these variations correspond both to different degrees of vulnerability to the demands of foreign donors and to different preferences from the donors themselves. We find four quantitative measures of extraversion vulnerability to be statistically associated with the initial transitions of the 1989–1995 period and with the ‘consolidations’ at different levels of democracy observable between 1995 and 2011. These findings shed new light on both democratic and hybrid regime trajectories in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article explores the development implications and challenges of South-South economic cooperation with sound governance on foreign direct investment (FDI) based on an African viewpoint. It focuses on the South-South trade and investment cooperation, the bilateral cooperation partnerships between Africa and other developing countries, and the China-Africa economic relations. It discusses the China-Africa relations based on trade and investment volume, cooperation level, and mechanism quality.

The ambitions of the global South for a larger share of global wealth and political power are at least partly being played out on the African continent. The increasing Africa--South relations seem to indicate a relative decline in Africa--North ties, with the shift in Africa's trade relations from North to South resulting in trade creation rather than trade diversion. The South partners are also providing much needed infrastructure development assistance to the continent. Politically, these relations are formalised in a host of frameworks and associations and operate in fundamentally different ways from those between Africa and its erstwhile colonial masters. It is doubtful, though, to what extent Africa's capacity to influence the global agenda is strengthened, especially given that not a single African country is (yet) a member of the 'South Big Four', the BRICs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses a research project on the expanding and deepening economic and political relations of China with countries in Africa. The project analyzed the effect of Chinese-African relations on transformations of conceptions and practices of state sovereignty. It also investigated the impact of the relations on South-South cooperation and the foreign policy process in China. In addition, the research project addressed the ethical considerations of the relations between the two countries.

China, in its quest for a closer strategic partnership with Africa, has increasingly dynamic economic, political and diplomatic activities on the continent. Chinese leaders and strategists believe that China's historical experience and vision of economic development resonates powerfully with African counterparts and that the long-standing history of friendly political linkages and development co-operation offers a durable foundation for future partnership. Both in China and amongst some Western commentators a form of exceptionalism and generalisation regarding both China and Africa has been emerging. In this article instead we seek to develop theoretical tools for examining China as a geopolitical and geoeconomic actor that is both different and similar to other industrial powers intervening in Africa. This is premised on a political economy approach that ties together material interests with a deconstruction of the discursive or 'extra-economic' ways by which Chinese capitalism internationalises. From there we use this framework to analyse contemporary Chinese engagement in Africa. We examine the changing historical position of Africa within Beijing's foreign policy strategy and China's vision of the evolving international political system, looking in particular at China's bilateral and state-centric approach to working with African 'partners'. Chinese practice is uncomfortable and unfamiliar with the notion of 'development' as an independent policy field of the kind that emerged among Western nations in the course of the 1950s and increasingly China has come to be viewed as a 'rogue creditor' and a threat to the international aid industry. Rather than highlighting one strand of Chinese relations with African states (such as aid or governance) we propose here that it is necessary to critically reflect on the wider geopolitics of China-Africa relations (past and present) in order to understand how China is opening up new 'choices' and altering the playing field for African development for the first time since the neo-liberal turn of the 1980s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The forces of Chinese resource diplomacy get integrated into the lived African landscape via the experiences locals have with Chinese and 'Chineseness' (however it is defined) in their day-to-day lives. The possibilities for their integration are somewhat constrained by both history and the conditions of the present, such as the neoliberal tendencies of global interaction - just as earlier empires had been shaped by the industrial revolution and embedded liberalism in the last two centuries. The spectacle of the Olympics eases the way for China's entry into African worlds, with both Olympic prestige and the command of the money economy it indicates being worn as a badge of success. China is a new power-broker for African comprador classes, and the Olympics has served as a herald of their coming influence. It is inevitable that the Chinese will get much out of the deal, but what Africa will get is Chinese - they will forge into the crucible of Africa, African with Chinese characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the new millennium, the Western aid effort toward Africa has surged due to writings by well-known economists, a celebrity mass advocacy campaign, and decisions by Western leaders to make Africa a major foreign policy priority. This survey contrasts the predominant “transformational” approach (West comprehensively saves Africa) to occasional swings to a “marginal” approach (West takes one small step at a time to help individual Africans). Evaluation of “one step at a time” initiatives is generally easier than that of transformational ones either through controlled experiments (although these have been oversold) or simple case studies where it is easier to attribute outcomes to actions. We see two themes emerge from the literature survey: (1) escalation—as each successive Western transformational effort has yielded disappointing results (as judged at least by stylized facts, since again the econometrics are shaky), the response has been to try an even more ambitious effort and (2) the cycle of ideas—rather than a progressive testing and discarding of failed ideas, we see a cycle in aid ideas in many areas in Africa, with ideas going out of fashion only to come back again later after some lapse long enough to forget the previous disappointing experience. Both escalation and cyclicality of ideas are symptomatic of the lack of learning that seems to be characteristic of the “transformational” approach. In contrast, the “marginal” approach has had some successes in improving the well-being of individual Africans, such as the dramatic fall in mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on Africa and its relations with developing countries. The authors discuss the emergence of developing countries as important actors in international economic relations at the end of the 20th century including South Korea, China, and Brazil. Statistics are included from the 2007 World Bank list showing the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of various developed and developing countries. Topics discussed include some of the challenges Africa faces such as the absence of production capacities to take better advantage of globalization, a growth in micro-economic activities in urban areas, and a growth in the exportation of raw materials. Also discussed is Africa's population growth increase.

Information about the conference "Sensitive Issues in Contemporary Sino-African Relations" is presented. The conference was sponsored by the Institute of West Asia and Africa and the Office of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and was held September 20-21, 2006. Topics discussed at the conference included relations between China and Africa, economic cooperation, and mutual political trust.

The article reports on the cooperation and trade efforts of Africa and the U.S. It is stated that the trade program that gives preferential access to the U.S. market for African exports has proved disappointing in several respects. This was the consensus as a conference reviewing the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) took place in mid-July 2007 in Ghana. Moreover, assistant secretary-general of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Sindiso Ngwenya notes that AGOA has done little to advance African agriculture. Ngwenya discloses that part of the problem lies in the restrictions the U.S. places on farm imports from COMESA countries.

This paper evaluates the extent to which China adapted its Africa policy to external criticism and expectations. It is found that policy modifications mainly occurred when long-term interests were at risk, with regard to issues of limited importance and non-binding initiatives. The article departs from the vast literature on adaptation and tests this concept on several aspects of Chinas engagement in Africa. This approach not only allows us to revise the PRCs changing Africa policy but also permits to contribute to the debate whether China is a status quo or revisionist power. In this regard, it turns out that Chinas ostensible compliance with the demands of other actors is designed to give leeway to its revisionist aspirations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports that British Prime Minister Tony Blair had set up the Africa Progress Panel because of his concern that the Group of 8 nations might backslide on its commitments. The panel will maintain the international political profile of Africa achieved in 2005 by producing an annual report for the G8, United Nations and the Africa Partnership Forum. The panel will be chaired by U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan. The G8 will meet in Russia on July 15-17, 2006.