Search

The proportion of international students in Chinese higher education is increasing, however, there remains little research that explores their motivations and how their learning of Chinese influences their identities and imagined futures. In this paper, we address the need for research on South-South migration--specifically Sino-African relations--and draw on the concept of linguistic capital to explore what it means for 15 self-funded international students from six different African countries. The findings highlight African youths' negotiation of power matrices in different fields and their desire for Chinese linguistic capital. The acquisition of such capital would position themselves advantageously in terms of employability and social prestige within the geopolitical and geo-economic context of China-Africa relations. In documenting their investment in Chinese language learning, the study compels us to reflect on the intersection of identity, ideology and capital within the language acquisition process and what Chinese language learning has come to mean for those from the peripheral nation-states.

This paper examines the evolving global digital landscape from an African perspective. To do this, the paper problematises the concept of “digital sovereignty” in the African context by exploring the continent’s unique challenges. While investments by the United States (US) and particularly China in digital infrastructure projects have increased connectivity and improved lives, they raise ongoing concerns about Africa’s over-reliance on external partners and the implications of data exploitation and surveillance for the continent’s digital independence. Growing out of these concerns, the central argument of this paper is the need to delink African nation-states from foreign influence and control of the digital sector and to rearticulate or reframe the latter in terms of digital sovereignty. In this light, the paper contends that mainstream research on the Fourth Industrial Revolution in the African context does not sufficiently look past the power repertoires and dynamics of the US and China – whether blaming or crediting - when theorising digital sovereignty. Instead, the paper argues that to fully understand the African continent’s battle to establish and maintain a coherent framework for digital independence, it is essential to consider the challenges and constraints of digital sovereignty. Drawing on a review of extant literature, the paper springboards off a set of broad themes and case studies to deepen understanding and highlight key hurdles to Africa’s digital independence. The paper suggests that African nations must strive to overcome risks to digital sovereignty if the latter is to genuinely empower nation-states and citizens in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on two collaborative projects selected by the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy at the University of Tennessee to partner in the US Department of State's Diplomacy Lab program that engages college students and faculty to study foreign policy challenges. The projects allowed information science graduate students to learn applied research in the process of developing geographic information systems for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex advocacy. The paper identifies opportunities, challenges, and best practices in content delivery, resource development, and extended relationship-building while drawing upon teaching-research-advocacy intersections in library and information science education.

Assesses the European Union's (EU) Green Paper on its relations with the 71 Lome Convention countries after the millennium. Comparison of the proposals in the Green Paper and the Lome system; Views on the European Commission's thinking about EU-African, Caribbean and Pacific relations; Changes in the political environment; Importance of a gradualist or incremental approach in trying to create a relationship.

The article provides information on the development of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) established by George W. Bush on February 6, 2007. AFRICOM was developed with the aim for peace and security for growing development challenges to education and health matters, economic growth and viable democratic institutions. In addition, AFRICOM remained under the supervision of the Central Command (CENTCOM) and had attained initial operating capability under European Command for operational unified command. African leaders have adapted the neo-imperialistic designs on the foreign policy options to checkmate the establishment of AFRICOM headquarters in Africa in order to relocate a full-fledged military command.

Due to the particular experiences of the African continent and its peoples, and the myriad of ways these experiences have been interpreted, appropriated, and reclaimed, there are a pressing series of epistemological, pedagogical, and ethical challenges, especially for those who wish to include African content in predominantly non-Africanist spaces, such as large survey courses. Ensuring an appropriate level and breadth of knowledge, as well as attention to the intricacies and cartographies of cultural specificity, while remaining attuned to the politics of racialization and colonization can be an extremely difficult balance to maintain. For historians working at the intersection of the analytical concepts of global and international, teaching African content can be an even more perilous journey. There are three main approaches to transnational history--that is, histories that traverse national borders and narratives: world history, international history, and global history. This paper examines the specific intellectual and pedagogical challenges of teaching "Africa" in non-Africanist contexts, specifically introductory global and international history. It draws on insights gathered from a decade of working at the intersection of international history and International Relations (IR), with a focus on twentieth-century African liberation movements, as well as from several years of teaching global and international history to undergraduates.

The quests and advocacies for co-operations, alliances, integration and unity amongst African countries are quite historical, and are ever resonating in discourses on international relations. It is such advocacies that birthed the idea for the formation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Southern African Development Community (SADC), etc. Unfortunately, not even the rationale for the metamorphosis from OAU to the African Union (AU) has been able to entrench the much desired unity of purpose amongst African states. This paper posits that the conversations on strategies for a closer and sustainable integration in Africa should not only be centred on socio-economic and political paradigms, but should deeply reflect cultural cum educational matrixes. The paper hypothesizes that cultural transmission, which is a fundamental goal of any educational system, has to be emphatically explored in the drive for integration and unity in Africa. It therefore conceptually highlighted the link between culture and education in regional integration, with reminiscences of such linkages in Africa. The paper however observes that, beyond the affirmations and declarations arising from Treaties and Charters by some regional fora in Africa, the varied uses of education for the purposes of cultural transmission, promotion of African history and languages, in addition to the merits of intellectual exchanges, are to be further surveyed as the plausible templates that would encourage integration in Africa. Consequently, the paper suggests that socio-political institutions, governments, sub-regional blocs and other agents of diplomacy and development in Africa should carefully reconsider the multi-dimensional values of education in the realization of the dreams of African nationalists for a well-integrated and united Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper applies Marcel Mauss' Gift Theory in conjunction with Qin Yaqing's Relational Theory to Chinese foreign aid. It proposed that this approach allows to conceptualise Chinese aid to Africa as a continuous gift cycle initiated in Bandung and has been going uninterrupted till today. The paper argues through the language of reciprocity and relationality, China symbolically affords the recipient status in a way that Northern aid does not. The real existing power asymmetries between China and Africa do not per se translate into unlimited influence as China can never be sure of reciprocity and is obliged to keep giving continuously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes China's new approaches of education aid to Africa through a case study of Cameroon. China's cooperation has been characterized by different discourses and different historic relationships with recipient countries than those of traditional donors. Sino-African policies have gone through different stages, each connected to wider political and economic realities. Currently, a broadening of China's engagement with Africa can be noticed through increasing aid packages and the inclusion of African countries other than those that had traditionally been close to China. Cameroon has been one of the countries that have had a relatively extended cooperation with China. Four types of Chinese education aid to Africa are illustrated by this paper: (i) Confucius Institutes, which are providing language and culture-related training in host countries; (ii) longer term scholarships and short-term training for Africans in China; (iii) school construction; and (iv) stand-alone education projects. By analyzing how these three different types of aid are taking place in Cameroon, various and apparently contradictory strategies and discourses materialize.

This paper delineates the characteristics of an emerging Southern multilateralism to argue against pessimistic narratives of anarchy and disorder as well as optimistic narratives that celebrate the resilience of the Liberal International Order (LIO). It does this by staging a conversation between a top‐down International Relations literature that explores the contours of global order and a bottom‐up international development literature that investigates the changing role of the Global South in world politics. By highlighting the continuities and discontinuities of Southern multilateralism with it, the paper illustrates the ways in which Southern Multilateralism both challenges the LIO and supports it. The perspective of Southern Multilateralism suggests that countries in the Global South insist on sharing global responsibility with prevailing institutions of liberal multilateralism, neither seeking to overthrow it nor to be co‐opted within it. A subsidiary argument of the paper is that Southern Multilateralism is not homogenous: To that end, it attends to the richness of Southern Multilateralism by directing attention to variations within it. In line with the theme of the Special Issue, this paper focuses on two cases that involve India's presence on the African continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate how the Japanese media conveyed the country's foreign aid policy and analyse how framing biases in the news differ depending on which language (either Japanese or English) was used in the broadcasts. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses a qualitative single case-study design and conducts a content analysis. The study uses news videos about the fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development aired on YouTube by the Japanese media using Japanese and English. Findings: The findings reveal subtle but notable differences in the patterns of the framing biases in the Japanese media's news aired in Japanese intended for the domestic audience, and in the news on the same topic broadcast in English to the international audience. Research limitations/implications: The limitation of the study is the rather small data set used for the single case study of one event. Social implications: Framing biases could lead the general public in a monolingual society to a more skewed view of their government's policy and its activities abroad. This could be an obstacle to developing a common ground for global issues and cross-border policy agendas. Originality/value: The study explores an under-researched function of language in international affairs. It highlights how the mass media in a non-English-speaking country uses a dual approach to framing news while addressing different audiences. To the best of the author's knowledge, the context that this paper deals with is novel because there are limited studies on the nexus between the influence of language choices and media logic in the field of international business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an attempt was made to locate the role of internationalisation in African Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). It is argued that comprehensive international, intercultural, and global dimensions in the affairs of African tertiary institutions provide for a more nuanced and diversified higher education landscape. Through a desk study approach, dwelling mainly on existing literature, the paper examines the issues of internationalisation from the perspectives of diversity and inclusion, as well as the roles of the relevant key players within those institutions to practically deliver internationalisation strategies that will put the institution on a global pedestal while remaining locally and regionally relevant. More importantly, strategies for achieving comprehensive internationalisation are discussed drawing inferences from literature and documentary sources. The interrogation of these sources in relation to the expectations of the current and future HEIs to remain socially relevant and sustainable is carried out. HEIs in Africa must contribute to socio-economic change and engage with their quad-helix and eco-system partners to ensure that high end skills training, knowledge production, entrepreneurship and innovation are accelerated. In so doing, African HEIs must embrace diversity in its fullness including welcoming differences in gender, race, culture, nationality and providing platforms of engagement that allow for inclusion, and breaking silos to allow for a nuanced agenda of internationalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the key features of today's global economy is an 'offshore world' of financial structures, institutions and techniques designed to provide secrecy, asset protection and tax exemption. While its worldwide impact is very significant, Africa is affected to an unusual extent by the strategies of tax avoidance/evasion, outward financial flows (both legal and illegal) and corruption enabled by the offshore world. This is corroborated by a number of quantitative studies of capital flight as well as by influential investigations such as the Pandora Papers, Panama Papers and Luanda Leaks. The offshore world's limited presence in the study of contemporary African politics, political economy and international relations is therefore striking. The purpose of this exploratory paper is to highlight this gap, provide a preliminary analysis, and suggest that the politics of African insertion in the global offshore economy merits more attention from scholars of African politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study explores the impact of potential linguistic, technical and educational hegemonies on the learning outcomes for English language students in Hebron, Palestine, and Padova, Italy, who were involved in the Soliya Connect Program, a telecollaboration project developed to explore critical issues that divide the "West" and the "predominantly Arab and Muslim world." The project is organised around weekly synchronous moderated video discussions between students from the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East and North Africa. The authors first discuss the hegemonies that might be at play in this telecollaboration project and examine the specific power imbalances on the macro-, meso- and micro-levels that students in Hebron and Padova might experience. Then, drawing on data from learner diaries and reflective papers, facilitator reports, and questionnaires, the authors provide evidence for the emergence of a third space conceptualised as a site of struggle and conflict, but also a dialogic, fluid and evolving space. The aspects of the project that seemed to contribute most to the creation of a third space were found to be: (a) the role of trained facilitators in addressing power imbalances, (b) the dialogic approach to conflict that the program is based on, and (c) the use of audio-video conferencing which humanises the experience and increases empathy among students. (Contains 1 figure and 3 notes.)

Comparing China's 2006 and 2015 Africa policies, this article reveals how China's political discourse has become more confident, practical, and depoliticised. In particular, this paper shows how education is allocated, promised, and embedded in China's 'shared' agenda, which is centred on development co-operation and mutual learning. It then reflects on the extent to which China may move towards traditional donors. This paper concludes that, despite fragmented convergences in the discourse and an increased recognition of a Chinese model, China maintains its distinctive role and position in the post-2015 era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to Iran's constitution, expanding relations with Africa has always been one of the strategic principles in the country's foreign policy; all previous presidents have therefore sought to expand the country's relations with Africa. Rouhani, however, pursued a different policy in Africa. His arrival in the office marked a considerable shift in Iran's foreign policy. Rouhani's African policy, compared to his predecessors, presents a peculiar case, because rhetorically he highlighted the importance of improving relations with Africa, but in practice, he almost neglected Africa at least in terms of trade and official visits. In other words, in Rouhani's presidency, Africa remained as a key principle in the IRI's foreign policy but not as a strategic partner. This paper uses a qualitative content analysis for analysing Rouhani's rhetorical positions on Africa. By adopting the constructivist theory of IR and the importance of policymaking theories, the paper also argues that due to the geopolitical importance of Africa, Iran's relations with Africa, although insignificant, remained unchanged. In Rouhani's time, however, relations declined significantly due to his Westward policy. In discussing this policy shift, the role of both structure and agency are important and emphasize the reactionary nature of Iran's foreign policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bio-medical model of 'mental health' and 'mental illness' that relates to the relationship between wellbeing and distress informs psychopathology and dominates conceptualisation in many Western Educated Industrialised Rich Democratic (WEIRD) populations. This paper aims to critique the model, questioning the appropriateness of psychopathology as a conceptual framework when working as a Western trained clinician with populations such as in China, Japan, Asia, the Middle-East and Africa. The paper also considers the cultural appropriateness of western notions of psychopathology when working inter-culturally in relation to the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings, and the Review of the Implementation of the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most Sub-Saharan African countries have adopted policies to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and policies to stimulate the growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). While a significant body of literature exists analyzing how these objectives can be mutually reinforcing, the negative interplay between these policies remains relatively unexplored. This paper examines whether, and in what circumstances, investment incentives could undermine SME competitiveness and, conversely, whether policies aiming to promote SMEs through encouraging FDI-SME linkages could impede FDI. This paper demonstrates that, absent a comprehensive approach to policy making, tensions invariably arise between investment incentives and SME promotion policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As this introductory study argues, state socialist experts dispatched for Africa during the Cold War were an important current in global transfers of knowledge. The paper introduces the scholarship on socialist experts and their relations to international organizations, modernization theory and the concept of development. Furthermore, it also delves into the personal experience of the experts in the place of their positioning and how they affected and were affected by the environment they were sent to. The paper thus summarizes the state of art and explores the possibilities of where the research might go from here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Describes activities of the Carter Center that focus on helping developing countries and suggests mutually beneficial roles universities in the United States could play. Topics discussed include the involvement of business in schools; the use of technology; foreign aid; planning for the future; and linking major universities with developing countries. (LRW)

Copyright of Bulletin of Ablai Khan KazUIRandWL: Series 'International Relations & Regional Studies' is the property of Kazakh Ablai Khan University of International Relations & World Languages and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Pakistan's paradigm shift in foreign policy to geo-economics, necessitates that Islamabad look for opportunities within and outside the region to utilise its geographic and economic potential. This new policy shift makes the African region a key area of significance for Pakistan, owing to the huge trade and market potential of the region. The adoption of 'Look Africa Policy' by Pakistan is a key step. This paper aims to explore the options and opportunities for Pakistan in the African region. It analyses these opportunities and associated challenges in the light of economic diplomacy framework. The paper argues that Pakistan requires active diplomatic engagement at public and private levels both, to boost trade and economic relationship with African region for the mutual economic benefit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper provides an analysis of certain key notions, such as solidarity and pragmatic solidarism in Hungarian foreign policy especially towards Sub-Saharan Africa, in particular during Communist times, as well as pragmatism as such, both during the Soviet period and in the post-Communist era. This will be contextualized in the gradual build-up of the Global South since the Bandung Conference of 1955. Special attention is provided to underscore the importance of education and government scholarships - as successful soft power tools - in fostering long-term relations with an enhanced interest in deepening economic cooperation. The article offers an analysis of the unfolding of the Hungarian Africa policies/strategies as a case study, but in the broader regional context of the Visegrad Four. The contribution of this paper to the field is that it broadens the relatively scarce literature on CEE foreign policies, in general, and on the Africa-policies, in particular, and offers a documented overview to better understand the Hungarian case, which has normative relevance for EU policies and geopolitics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of this paper is to analyse possible persistent French neo-colonialism in Africa. The first section deals with the theoretical framework of the term under scrutiny, followed by an analysis of the genesis of contemporary French foreign policy towards Africa by comparing the French presidential administrations, as well as analysing the persistent French military presence in Africa. The paper also focuses on the study of France's relations with African countries using the example of Côte d'Ivoire and of the French military intervention during the civil war in Côte d'Ivoire (2002). The paper discusses the main consequences of French interventions in the region, and the result of the analysis is a comprehensive assessment of current mutual relations and of the current French influence in sub-Saharan Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pakistan's Look Africa Policy Initiative is required to take benefit from the African region in these times when African states want to establish good economic and diplomatic relations and create for themselves a comfortable niche in the African trade and development. Pakistan should not overlook the pre-eminence of action courses (functionalism and federalism) to adequately proceed with economic prospects and opportunities. The buck must stop here so that concrete and palpable genuine initiatives can be clutched. While expediting ahead on this economic nexus, it is necessary to shed light on the role of Morocco in CPEC and the possibility of investment in Pakistan. The paper explores the history of Pak-Africa relations positively in the search for a better future together. This is a research of the kind and nature of relations that can be potentially developed between Pakistan and Africa to reveal the natural potential of both. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis of international and collaborative publication trends in prominent behavior‐analytic journals has been a topic of interest for behavioral researchers. This paper focuses on publication trends from 1997 through 2020 in three prominent journals: Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (JEAB), Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA), and Perspectives on Behavior Science (PBS). The variable of interest was the percentage of articles published per geographical category—Australasia/East Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, North America, and Africa. The results showed that 79, 96, and 87% of the published articles in JEAB, JABA, and PBS, respectively, were conducted by researchers with a North American affiliation. Furthermore, 12, 4, and 4% of the articles in JEAB, JABA, and PBS, respectively, were coauthored by at least two researchers from different geographical categories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Review of African Political Economy is the property of Review of Political Economy (ROAPE) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of World Tensions / Tensões Mundiais is the property of Observatorio das Nacionalidades and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this article, the influence of conflict on the economies of neighbouring countries is discussed. The results from previous papers show a strong negative effect for an entire area around a country suffering from conflict, but this paper reaches a different conclusion, by using more recent data and adjusting the methodology previously employed. Additionally, a new type of contiguity matrix is constructed and used in the actual analysis. The final analysis consists of a large number of regressions and concludes that conflict actually has two opposing effects. First, like conflict countries themselves, directly contiguous countries actually suffer from the negative effects of proximate conflict. Secondly, however, there is also a positive spillover of conflict, which affects non-contiguous countries and this effect is larger for countries that are closer to the conflict country. The results from the paper predominantly hold for the most violent kind of conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Selcuk University Journal of Social & Technical Researches is the property of Selcuk University Journal of Social & Technical Researches and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Humania del Sur: Revista de Estudios Latinoamericanos, Africanos y Asiáticos is the property of Humania del Sur. Estudios Latinoamericanos Africanos y Asiaticos and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)