Teacher responsible: Prof J Christopher Alden and Dr Álvaro Méndez.
The course: This graduate course focuses on the substantive role that China plays in the Global South where its preponderance of material power and putative developing country status confers upon it a dominant position in bilateral and regional political economies.
China's economic position, coupled to an astute use of finances flowing from its mercantalist policies, has enabled it to become the leading trading partner and a significant investor in the developing world. Moreover, the Global South is increasingly figuring in Beijing's expanding security interests and soft power provisions. Interpretations embedded in prevailing academic discussions like socialisation, threat and peaceful rise take on new meaning when studied through the lens of ties with developing countries.
Understanding how dynamics in this relationsip are impacting upon a host of global and contemporary issues (BRICs, multilateralism, peacekeeping, the environment) is crucial to the shape of the 21st century.
Students will acquire a deeper appreciation of the concept of agency linked to the varied response of countries and regional organisations in the Global South, from policy elites to local communities, to China's growing structural power, as well as placing Chinese engagement within the context of other 'traditional' and emerging powers. This will offer a deeper analysis of the way in which the dynamics of China's economic and political model impact on its relationship with the Global South.
More information here