{"id":84,"date":"2025-10-02T03:35:38","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T03:35:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/great-expectations\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T03:35:38","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T03:35:38","slug":"great-expectations","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/articles\/great-expectations\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Expectations"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"content column wide left article content view\" id=\"content\">\n<div class=\"edit image\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/var\/broker\/storage\/images\/images\/broker-19\/p22.-book-review\/724327-1-eng-gb\/p22.-book-review_full_view.jpg\" alt=\"\">\n\t<\/div>\n<article class=\"fader  Research article\">\n<header class=\"contents\">\n<div class=\"share\">\n\t\t\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n    var addthis_config = {\n        ui_language = 'en'\n    }\n<\/script><\/p>\n<div class=\"addthis sharing\">\n\t<!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><\/p>\n<div class=\"addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style addthis_32x32_style\" addthis:title=\"Great expectations\">\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_twitter\" tw:via=\"thebrokeronline\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_facebook\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_pinterest_share\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_preferred_4\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_compact\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_counter addthis_bubble_style\"><\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n<p>\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\">var addthis_config = data_track_addressbar;<\/script><br \/>\n\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/js\/300\/addthis_widget.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n\t<!-- AddThis Button END -->\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"addthis article_options\">\n    \t\t\t\t\t\t<a title=\"Export article to PDF\" class=\"pdf\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/extension\/broker\/design\/broker\/images\/pdficon.png\" alt=\"pdf\"><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGreat expectations<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"pubDate\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/experts-and-authors\/large-daniel\/\">Daniel&nbsp;Large<\/a>\t\t|<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tApril 13, 2025\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"intro contents\">\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\"><b><i>T<\/i><i>he Dragon\u2019s Gift: The Real Story of China in Africa<\/i>, by Deborah Brautigam. Oxford University Press, 2009, 397 pp.<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">A review by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/authors\/large-daniel\/\" target=\"_blank\">Daniel Large<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"body contents\">\n\t\t<!-- body --><\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">\n<div class=\"object-left\">\n<div class=\"embedded-image medium\" style=\"width:203px;\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"#\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/var\/broker\/storage\/images\/images\/18-bookreview-great-expectations\/726109-1-eng-gb\/18-bookreview-great-expectations_medium.jpg\" alt=\"\" align=\"left\"><br \/>\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"attribute-caption\" style=\"width:203px;\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<strong>&nbsp;<\/strong>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">Most inter-governmental gatherings tend to be relatively obscure events, attracting little attention. But occasionally they signal shifts that are likely to have lasting impacts. One such event was the third Forum on China\u2013Africa Cooperation in Beijing in 2006, which made China\u2019s African relations visible to the wider world. Then, at the fourth forum in Sharm el-Sheikh in November 2009, the Chinese announced new measures to strengthen their strategic partnership with Africa, ensuring that China\u2019s relations with Africa will continue to be a regular feature of media, academic and policy discussions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">Interest in China\u2019s accelerated expansion into the vast continent of Africa soared after 2006.<br \/>\n<a name=\"t1\"><\/a><sup><a class=\"footnote\" href=\"#f1\">1<\/a><\/sup> It did so, however, in the absence of hard information about the Chinese engagement. Mainstream media tended to simplify and exaggerate the relationship. Binary formulas were commonly used to describe China\u2019s \u2018new\u2019 role in Africa (the \u2018new colonialist\u2019, the \u2018new hegemon\u2019) and Africa\u2019s apparent \u2018new\u2019 position in Chinese foreign policy (the \u2018new Sinosphere\u2019, China\u2019s \u2018new Wild West\u2019). China\u2019s motivations were frequently reduced to resource supply imperatives, and its relations with Africa were evaluated in zero\u2013sum terms (positive\u2013negative, threat\u2013opportunity). It was only a matter of time before the relationship became the subject of works of fiction.<br \/>\n<a name=\"t2\"><\/a><sup><a class=\"footnote\" href=\"#f2\">2<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">\nIt is the everyday fictions, \u2018myths and realities\u2019 of China\u2019s engagement in Africa, particularly Chinese aid, that Deborah Brautigam explores in this timely book. Having published a seminal work on Chinese aid in Africa 12 years ago,<br \/>\n<a name=\"t3\"><\/a><sup><a class=\"footnote\" href=\"#f3\">3<\/a><\/sup> Brautigam, associate professor at the American University in Washington, DC, is an unusually well qualified authority. Her clearly written account successfully weaves together knowledge of the African and Chinese contexts, overcoming the prevailing divide in the academic literature between those familiar with either Africa or China.<br class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\"\/>After charting the history of Chinese aid in Africa, Brautigam discusses how China\u2019s own experience as a recipient of aid and external investment has informed its overseas aid policy. China\u2019s state-sponsored engagement in Africa is the considered product of tactical flexibility within a long-term strategy, she believes, rather than a master plan of \u2018China Inc.\u2019, or the smash-and-grab resource raid depicted in some more colourful accounts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">Brautigam examines the nature of Chinese aid, and how it actually works, from the operations of the China Export\u2013Import Bank to resource-backed infrastructure loans. Concerning how much aid Beijing gives to Africa \u2013 such information remains a state secret \u2013 she finds that it is less than is generally believed (about US$1.4 billion in official development aid in 2007). In comparing Chinese aid to Africa with that from Europe, North America or international organizations, Brautigam observes that it \u2018is a lot like comparing apples and lychees. They do not offer the same kind of fruit\u2019 (p.179). But she does evaluate China\u2019s aid on its own terms, and examines what principles like \u2018mutual benefit\u2019 mean in practice.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">The book goes on to explore the impacts of Chinese engagement on African manufacturing and presents interesting material on Chinese agriculture in Africa. The final chapter confronts the emotive issue of China as a \u2018rogue donor\u2019, noting the debates and revisions evident in Beijing\u2019s responses to African and external critiques, and considers the implications for Africa and its more established partners.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">\nRather than the \u2018dragon\u2019s gift\u2019, this account is really about myriad Chinese gifts, how they play out and can refract with varying degrees of impact on development in Africa. Despite the hopes engendered by China\u2019s involvement in Africa, and its own development record, China\u2019s current role is also, rightly, recognized as ambivalent, contingent and ultimately dependent on African responses. It remains to be seen whether African governments can successfully manage China\u2019s engagement in order to convert its inherent potential into more widely beneficial and sustained development opportunities. <br class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\"\/><br \/>\n&nbsp;<br class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\"\/>Any book claiming to tell \u2018the real story\u2019 sets its standards high, but this one succeeds admirably. For those interested in China\u2013Africa relations, it enriches the field, defines new research standards and is constructively provocative. For those new to the subject, it is an essential text about a compelling, increasingly consequential relationship.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"credit\">\n\t\t\tPhoto credit main picture:\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<!-- body --><br \/>\n\t\t<!-- footnotes --><\/p>\n<h3>Footnotes<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"footnotes\">\n<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"#t1\" name=\"f1\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1.<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">See Ellen Lammers (2007) <i>How will the Beijing Consensus benefit Africa?<\/i>, The Broker 1. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/en\/articles\/How-will-the-Beijing-Consensus-benefit-Africa <\/a><\/p>\n<p><br class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"#t2\" name=\"f2\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2.<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">See Henning Mankell\u2019s novel, <i>The Man from Beijing<\/i> (English translation 2010), London: Harvill Secker.<\/p>\n<p><br class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"#t3\" name=\"f3\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t3.<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">Deborah Brautigam (1998) <i>Chinese Aid and African Development: Exporting Green<\/i> Revolution. London: Macmillan.<\/p>\n<p><br class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\t\t<!-- footnotes -->\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<section class=\"commentform content column wide left\">\n<div class=\"disqus_content\">\n\t\t\t<a name=\"comments\" id=\"comments\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div id=\"disqus_thread\"><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\t\t\t\t\/* * * CONFIGURATION VARIABLES: EDIT BEFORE PASTING INTO YOUR WEBPAGE * * *\/\n\t\t\t\tvar disqus_shortname = 'broker'; \/\/ required: replace example with your forum shortname\n\t\t\t\tvar disqus_identifier = '4927';\n\t\t\t\t\/* * * DON'T EDIT BELOW THIS LINE * * *\/\n\t\t\t\tfunction trackComment(comment)\n\t\t\t\t{\n\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(comment);\n\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\tfunction disqus_config() {\n\t\t\t\t\tthis.callbacks.onNewComment = [function() { \n\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(comment);\n\t\t\t\t\t}];\n\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\t(function() {\n\t\t\t\t\tvar dsq = document.createElement('script'); dsq.type = 'text\/javascript'; dsq.async = true;\n\t\t\t\t\tdsq.src = '\/\/' + disqus_shortname + 'https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/articles\/.disqus.com\/embed.js';\n\t\t\t\t\t(document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0] || document.getElementsByTagName('body')[0]).appendChild(dsq);\n\t\t\t\t})();\n\t\t\t<\/script><br \/>\n\t\t\t<!--\n\t\t\t<noscript>Please enable JavaScript to view the <a href=\"http:\/\/disqus.com\/?ref_noscript\">comments powered by Disqus.<\/a><\/noscript>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"http:\/\/disqus.com\" class=\"dsq-brlink\">comments powered by <span class=\"logo-disqus\">Disqus<\/span><\/a>\n\t\t\t-->\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false,"raw":""},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Great expectations Daniel&nbsp;Large | April 13, 2025 The Dragon\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template_2.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-84","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Great expectations \/ Articles - The Broker<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Dragon\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Gift: The Real Story of China in Africa, by Deborah Brautigam. 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