Impact of China's Domestic Governance on Cooperation with Africa and CEE Countries

 The Journal of Contemporary China just published a study titled "The Domestic Mechanisms of China's Vertical Multilateralism: The FOCAC and the 16+1 Format Case Studies" by Dominik Mierzejewski, Bartosz Kowalski and Jaroslaw Jura.  

The study concludes that China's engagement in multilateral cooperation with Africa and Central and Eastern Europe has to a considerable extent, mirrored mechanisms in China's domestic governance: generating enthusiasm and mobilization through slogan politics and informal political networks, which are influenced by the process of centralization of power and the coordination of horizontal competition with Beijing in a dominant position.  However, due to different cultural backgrounds, the political landscape, and the economic environment, the mechanisms of the FOCAC and China-CEE cooperation are implemented differently and with different intensity to those in Chinese internal affairs.   

Europe and Africa from a Polish Perspective

The Central and Eastern Europe Development (CEED) Institute in cooperation with the Polish Centre for African Studies just published a major study titled "Africa-Europe on the Global Chessboard: The New Opening."

The objectives of the study are threefold.  First, it seeks to critically discuss major economic, political and social trends in Sub-Saharan Africa.  Second, it examines an on-going shift in Africa's international relations with the outside world where Europe's clout is waning and South-South cooperation is on the rise.  Third, it seeks to better understand the business and political practices of developing countries in Africa and provide food for thought to the European Union, whose business presence in Africa has been alarmingly limited.