The convergence of development and security in foreign aid: a study of China and Japan in Africa (2001–2021)

Abstract

This thesis examines the post-Cold War merger of development and security in foreign aid by analyzing China’s and Japan’s aid strategies in Africa between 2001 and 2021. Guided by the research question, “How have development aid and security merged in the post–Cold War period?”, the study investigates whether the merger pattern, previously identified in the aid strategies of North American and Western European donors, is also reflected in the cases of China and Japan. Employing a case study approach, the analysis draws on official documents from the Forum on China- Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), using policy discourse and policy design indicators of the merger derived from existing scholarship. The findings reveal a consistent pattern: development and security are merged in both policy discourse and policy design in China’s and Japan’s foreign aid strategies in Africa after the Cold War.