In recent years, with the ever-growing presence and activism of China in Africa, Western academic and nonacademic studies abound. One central question concerns the motives and record of China's African initiatives and operations and the impact to date of China's drive for the interests of Africa and the traditional Western powers.
The New Presence of China in Africa is a welcome addition to the growing debate on the subject. Editor Meine Pieter van Dijk, professor of water services management at the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education in the Netherlands, authored or coauthored six of the ten chapters; other authors include Anders Bastholm, Filip de Beule, Daniel Van den Bulcke, Jean-Rephaël Chaponnière, Peter Kragelund, and Peter Knorringa. The volume brings together essays by theorists and practitioners, area and non-area specialists, from Western Europe to investigate the riddle of China's role in Africa.
Throughout the study, China's behavior and role in Africa...
