The Eagle and the Dragon: Stability and Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa

The Virginia Military Institute presents "The Eagle and the Dragon: Stability and Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa."

China and the U.S. are typically portrayed as being locked into competition over Africa's natural resources and future markets.  This view calls attention to the potential for Africa to become a playing field for a 21^st-century cold war between China and the U.S. 

“The Eagle and the Dragon: Stability and Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa” rejects the dichotomous choice between competition and cooperation. Rather, it asks several questions: 

• Where do Africa's interests fit into the equation?
• What are the possible common strategic and economic interests of China and the U.S. in Africa?
• How can the interests of China and the U.S. be reconciled with those of African countries? 

This conference seeks to provide a balanced look at the relationships between Africa, the U.S. and China while exploring what drives current interests. Top-tier experts will highlight identifying similarities and differences across the continent as well as how different African countries interact with China.

Panelists and keynote speakers are drawn from around the U.S., China, Africa, and other countries with diverse experience as authors, educators, diplomats and military personnel. We expect the program to draw attendees from all sectors, including policy makers(defense and state), academics, and private sector interests, in addition to participation from VMI cadets and faculty.

Keynote Speakers Include: 

• Ambassador Johnnie Carson, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of African Affairs, U.S Department of State.

• Ambassador Jendayi E. Frazer, Ph.D., Distinguished Public Service Professor, Director of the Center for International Policy and Innovation, Carnegie Mellon University.

Panelists Include:

• Deborah Bräutigam, Ph.D., has been writing about China, Africa, state-building, governance and foreign aid for almost 30 years. Currently Visiting Senior Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute and Professor of International Development at American University’s School of International Service, and Professor II at the University of Bergen, Norway, she has held faculty appointments at Columbia University in New York, and Silpakorn University in Thailand.

• Dr. Reuben E. Brigety, II is the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration.  In this capacity, he supervises US refugee programs in Africa, assisting over 11 million people, manages US humanitarian diplomacy with major international partners, and oversees the development of international migration policy.

• Raymond Gilpin, Ph. D., Associate Vice President, Sustainable Economies Centers of Innovation, United States Institute of Peace. Dr. Gilpin directs USIP’s Center for Sustainable Economies (CSE), one of the Institute’s Centers of Innovation. 

• COL James J. Hentz, Ph.D., Dr. Hentz is Professor and Chair of the Department of International Studies and Political Science at the Virginia Military Institute.  He received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and is editor-in-chief of the Taylor & Francis/Routledge journal African Security.

• Christopher LaMonica, Ph. D. is an Associate Professor of Comparative Politics at the United States Coast Guard Academy.  His research interests include the politics of development, the “development-security nexus,” international relations theory and practice, African politics, and the politics of migration, race and ethnicity in history.

• J. Peter Pham, Ph.D., Director of the Michael S. Ansari Africa Center at the Atlantic Council in Washington, DC.  Dr. Pham was previously Senior Vice President of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy in New York City, and editor of its bimonthly journal, American Foreign Policy Interests. He was also a tenured associate professor of Justice Studies, Political Science, and Africana Studies at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, where he was director of the Nelson Institute for International and Public Affairs.

• Mr. Joseph Riley is currently in his Third Year at the University of Virginia and plans to graduate in the Spring of 2013 with majors in the Politics Honors Program for Government and Foreign Affairs and in Mandarin Chinese. Joseph’s research has focused on American-Sino relations, especially in regards to the potential for resource competition in Africa and Central Asia.

• MAJ Howard Sanborn, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, International Studies and Political Science, Virginia Military Institute. Howard Sanborn is currently an Assistant Professor of International Studies and Political Science at the Virginia Military Institute.  He received his Ph.D. from the University of Iowa in 2009 and has focused his research on the development of democratic institutions in East Asia, specifically China and Taiwan, and the subsequent effects on relations with the United States. 

• Ambassador David H. Shinn, Ph. D., Adjunct professor in the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University.  He served for 37 years in the U.S. Foreign Service with assignments at embassies in Lebanon, Kenya, Tanzania, Mauritania, Cameroon, Sudan and as ambassador to Burkina Faso and Ethiopia.  He is the coauthor of a book on China-Africa relations to be published in late 2011 by the University of Pennsylvania press.  He has a Ph.D. in political science from George Washington University.    

• Ian Taylor, Ph.D., Professor, School of International Relations, University of St. Andrews, U.K.; Joint Professor, School of International Studies, Renmin University of China; Honorary Professor in the Institute of African Studies, Zhejiang Normal University, China.  Author of several books on China/Africa relations, and most recently, “The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation” Routledge 2011.  Co-editor, “African Security”.

Panel Chairs Include:     

• Ambassador Priscilla A. Clapp, Ambassador Clapp is a retired Minister-Counselor in the U.S. Foreign Service.  She is currently engaged in foreign policy analysis and community service with several institutions. During her 30-year career with the U.S. Government, Ambassador Clapp served as Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Burma (1999-2002), Deputy Chief of Mission in the US Embassy in South Africa (1993-96), Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Refugee Programs (1989-1993), Deputy Political Counselor in the US Embassy in Moscow (1986-88), and chief of political-military affairs in the US Embassy in Japan (1981-85).

• Dr. Paul V. Hebert graduated from VMI in 1968 with a BS in Civil Engineering, earned an MS from UNC/Chapel Hill, as well as a PhD in Environmental Engineering from UNC in 1981. For more than 30 years, Dr. Paul Hebert has worked to promote and support humanitarian action in less developed countries through his work with the UN and other NGOs.

• Mr. Charles Horner is Senior Fellow at Hudson Institute in Washington, DC. He is a China scholar who pays special attention to how China's evolving views of its modern historical experience and its intellectual and cultural traditions influence contemporary developments.  The first volume of his projected two-volume study, Rising China and Its Postmodern Fate, was nominated for the Joseph Levenson Prize of the Association of Asian Studies and the second volume is in progress.

• Ambassador Louis J Nigro, Jr., (Retired) was U.S. ambassador to Chad from 2007 to 2010.  He served previously as Deputy Chief of Mission in the U.S. Embassy in Guinea-Conakry and as Chief of the Political Section in Chad.  He also  served overseas at U.S. diplomatic missions in Cuba, Haiti, The Vatican, and The Bahamas, as well as in the bureaus of European and Western Hemisphere affairs in Washington.  From 2004-2006, he was detailed by the State Department to the U.S. Army War College as Professor of International Affairs.

• Yoon Jung Park, Ph.D.,  is currently a freelance researcher. She is a non-resident Senior Research Associate of the Sociology Department at Rhodes University and serves as the convener/coordinator of the Chinese in Africa/Africans in China (CA/AC) International Research Working Group.