United States and Chinese foreign assistance and diplomacy: Aid for dominance

by Salvador Santino Regilme, Obert Hodzi

Overview

Aid for Dominance addresses the analytic weaknesses of mainstream analysis of foreign aid, which often focuses on its material dimensions. The book underscores the constitutive relationship between foreign aid as a material resource and the diplomatic discourses and practices that constitute complex bilateral relations between donor and recipient states. Written by two leading scholars of contemporary United States and Chinese foreign policies in the Global South, Aid for Dominance offers a pioneering, theoretically conscious, and empirically rich account of the two great powers’ grand strategies in the global development sector. By deploying a multidisciplinary and comparative analysis, this book draws from a wide range of evidentiary materials from primary sources, including data from fieldwork interviews, government documents, local and international newspapers, speeches by high-ranking government officials and diplomats, and secondary data from scholarly publications and policy papers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781526183194
Publisher:	Manchester University Press
Publication date:	01/13/2026
Series:	Key Studies in Diplomacy
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x (d)

About the Author

Salvador Santino Regilmeis an Associate Professor of International Relations at Leiden Universityin the Netherlands.

Obert Hodzi is an Associate Professor in Politics at the University of Liverpool, UK.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The dawn of a new age: The US and China in global development
1. The American Odyssey: Tracing the evolution of US foreign aid
2. China's Global Ascent: A historical perspective on Chinese foreign aid 
3. Social Legitimacy: US foreign aid in the 21st century 
4. African Nexus: The US-China rivalry's impact on the continent 
5. Southeast Asia: Battleground of US-China aid strategies 
Conclusion 

Editorial Reviews

'Global in scope and brilliant in analysis, this vital book illuminates the multiple ways in which different actors instrumentalise overseas aid in the context of heightened geopolitical competition between China and the United States. If you want to understand how China is winning in this arena of global influence, you have found a defining, definitive, and compelling source.' Pádraig Carmody, Trinity College Dublin

'United States and Chinese foreign assistance and diplomacy takes a holistic approach to studying American and Chinese aid and engagement across the Global South. In doing so, it problematises popular accounts that depict U.S.-China rivalry along a binary ideological divide between democracy and authoritarianism. The authors instead find more strategic similarities than differences: both the US and China use aid to shape host country policies to reflect donor preferences and to enhance their international reputations. Such efforts also afford host country governments agency to pursue their own strategic aims. The book situates US and Chinese development finance within larger discussions about the future of the international system and will be particularly valuable to readers looking to make connections between international development and influence.' Austin Strange, University of Hong Kong

'United States and Chinese foreign assistance and diplomacy offers a unique and refreshing comparative study of Chinese and US foreign assistance. In the political moment of the present with the US slashing its foreign assistance commitments while China aspires to continue growing its influence in the Global South (and beyond), United States and Chinese foreign assistance and diplomacy offers an incisive perspective that clarifies what exactly is at stake both for geopolitical and humanitarian considerations. Drawing on fieldwork-based qualitative interviews as well as rigorous quantitative analyses, the authors provide a comprehensive study which will be a must-read for scholars and policymakers. ' Lina Benabdallah, Wake Forest University

From the Publisher