'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 ' United States and Chinese foreign assistance and diplomacy is a timely and carefully argued study. It brings much-needed clarity to how American and Chinese foreign aid shape, and are shaped by, global power competition. Regilme and Hodzi move beyond tired binaries to offer a compelling and nuanced framework, making this an important resource for scholars and practitioners alike. Jing Sun, University of Denver.