CACS Policy Brief No 3
The US, Russia, China and Africa in the Evolving Global Order
Dr David Monyae, Co-director, University of Johannesburg Confucius Institute
This Policy Brief examines the current global order in which Africa is widely seen to have been given a peripheral role, but which is also in a state of change, due to the resurgence of China and Russia and the intentional decline of the United States and the West at large.
It is divided into five sections. The first assesses the rise and decline of the US-dominated post-1945 world order. The second analyses Russia’s post-1989 orientation, and its dealings with the West. The third examines China’s opening up while retaining a Chinese self-understanding and its subsequent promulgation of a globalisation with Chinese characteristics. The fourth assesses Africa’s position in the crumbling post-1989 world order through three lenses: (1) its peripheral stature in the international financial architecture, (2) its international political positioning after the 2008 global financial crisis which, ironically but typically, it did not help to create, but suffered the most from; and (3) its asymmetrical standing in the international legal and moral framework. The final section outlines the implications of the changing global order, and offers policy prescriptions for Africa.
To download the Policy Brief, click here.