Political scientist shares China-Global South expertise with policymakers
For more than a decade, China has invested heavily in the economic development of countries collectively known as the Global South. More recently, China has demonstrated that its ambitions are growing beyond the economic realm and extending into the geopolitical sphere. This shift carries implications not only for the developing countries that are the beneficiaries of China’s investment, but also for the United States and other developed democracies, said a scholar at the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame.
“For China, nations and regions in the Global South are a major priority, and we should be paying more attention to them in addition to monitoring China’s great power rivalry with the United States,” said Joshua Eisenman, associate professor of politics in the Keough School. “The rivalry between China and the U.S. is part of the story, but not the whole story.”
Eisenman researches China’s economic and geopolitical strategies in the Global South, which collectively includes Southeast Asia, South Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. These regions have become an essential component of China’s external engagement and foreign policy in recent years, Eisenman said.
Eisenman and other Notre Dame scholars including Scott Appleby, the Marilyn Keough Dean of the Keough School; Susan Ostermann, assistant professor of global affairs; and Victoria Tin-bor Hui, associate professor of political science, will participate in the two-day panel discussion “China in the Global South: Development and Influence in a Shifting Global Order,” at the Atlantic Council on Feb. 21-22 in Washington, D.C. The event will also feature prominent experts from the U.S. Department of State, USAID and Freedom House, as well as experts from across the Global South such as Joseph Asunka, CEO of Afrobarometer, a prominent pan-African research network that provides data on the views of Africans to inform development and policy decision-making.
Two recent events signal China’s expanding geopolitical ambitions, Eisenman said. Most recently, as the U.S. faced pushback for its support of Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip, China aligned itself with countries such as Brazil, India, Pakistan and South Africa, all of which condemned Israel’s actions. And in March 2023, China brokered a détente between Saudi Arabia and Iran following seven years of open hostility and nonexistent diplomatic ties between the two countries. Eisenman said these events reveal China’s expanding geopolitical interests beyond places like Africa, the largest beneficiary of Chinese investment in recent years.
“In many ways, China’s investment in places like Africa has peaked and is unlikely to return to those levels,” he said. “What is increasing are the engagements of the Communist Party of China and the People’s Liberation Army with their counterparts in the Global South. We’re seeing an expansion in the political and security arena in ways that should draw our attention.”
To shed light on these and other emerging trends, the Keough School’s Pulte Institute for Global Development and the Atlantic Council have formed the China-Global South Initiative, a multi-year partnership that is co-directed by Eisenman and David Shullman, who leads the council’s Global China Hub. This joint effort convenes policymakers, academics and local partners to study and coordinate local responses to China’s strategic intentions and impacts in the Global South. The initiative also aims to produce rigorous academic and policy publications, convene leading experts and offer mentoring opportunities for Notre Dame students and experts from the Global South. Founded in 2022, the initiative aims to become the premier global resource for understanding China in the Global South.
The Atlantic Council event will be the largest that the China-Global South Initiative has hosted, according to Eisenman. “The scope of this event reflects the tremendous support of the Keough School and the Atlantic Council for this initiative,” he said. “With top U.S. officials joining attendees from all around the Global South, including the Philippines, Colombia, Ghana and more, we believe it will generate critical insights not only for future research, but for future policy strategies as well.”
Eisenman is the co-author (with David Shinn) of “China’s Relations with Africa: A New Era of Strategic Engagement” (Columbia University Press, 2023), which focuses on political and security relations between China and Africa, explains the tactics and methods that China uses to build relations with African countries, and contextualizes and interprets them within Beijing’s larger geostrategy.
Originally published by Renée LaReau at keough.nd.edu on Feb. 8.
Contact: Tracy DeStazio, associate director of media relations, 574-631-9958 or tdestazi@nd.edu
Latest Faculty & Staff
- There’s no ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to addressing men’s health issues globallyAt a time when health resources are at a premium and need to be wisely allocated, health professionals must find points within men’s lives when it makes the most sense to intervene and advocate for preventive care for promoting better health outcomes. Life transitions such as marriage and fatherhood are often pivotal and crucial intervention points. But just like every man is different, health concerns across global communities differ as well. Research from the University of Notre Dame finds that not all life transitions produce the same health results, and not all men’s global health policies should look the same from one country to another.
- Three Notre Dame faculty named 2024 Guggenheim FellowsBarbara Montero, a professor of philosophy; Gretchen Reydams-Schils, a professor in the Program of Liberal Studies; and Roy Scranton, an associate professor of English and director of the Creative Writing Program and the Environmental Humanities Initiative, are among the 188 scholars, scientists and artists chosen from approximately 3,000 applicants for the fellowship. The Guggenheim Foundation awards these fellowships to outstanding scholars in order to add to the educational, literary, artistic and scientific power of the country.
- Essays on democracy draw attention to critical threats, explore safeguards ahead of Jan. 6Shortly after Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol building, Notre Dame’s Rooney Center for the Study of American Democracy established the January 6th, 2025, Project, which includes 10 Notre Dame faculty who are preeminent scholars of democracy. In an effort to understand the social, political, psychological and demographic factors that led to that troublesome day, the group created a collection of 14 essays aimed at drawing attention to the vulnerabilities in our democratic system and the threats building against it, hoping to create consensus on ways to remedy both problems.
- Carter Snead testifies before US Senate Judiciary CommitteeO. Carter Snead, the Charles E. Rice Professor of Law and director of the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture at the University of Notre Dame, offered expert testimony on Wednesday (March 20) before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary on the current legal landscape following the landmark Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
- In memoriam: Ronald Weber, American studies professor emeritusRonald Weber, a professor emeritus of American studies at the University of Notre Dame, died March 12 in Valparaiso, Indiana. He was 89.
- Jennifer Newsome Martin to succeed O. Carter Snead as director of de Nicola Center for Ethics and CultureSarah Mustillo, the I.A. O’Shaughnessy Dean of Arts and Letters, has appointed Notre Dame theologian Jennifer Newsome Martin to be the next director of the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture. She will succeed O. Carter Snead, the Charles E. Rice Professor of Law, who will conclude 12 years of service in this role on June 30.
