Lina Benabdallah
Associate Professor
B.A. University of Batna, Algeria, 2004,
M.A. University of Florida, 2014
Ph.D. University of Florida, 2017
Areas of Expertise: International Relations Theory, International Development, China-Africa Relations Foreign Policy, South-South Relations, African Politics, and Post-colonial Theory
BOOKS Shaping the Future of Power: Knowledge Production and Network-Building in China-Africa Relations. University of Michigan Press, July 2020.
Reviewed in:
H-Diplo (roundtable), Perspectives on Politics, Washington Post Monkey Cage blog, African Studies Review, Foreign Affairs, Journal of Development Studies, China Quarterly, South African Journal of International Affairs, Connections: A Journal for Historians and Area Specialists.
PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLES
(with Ilaria Carrozza) “South-South Knowledge Production and Hegemony: Searching for Africa in Chinese IR Theories” International Studies Review (2022) 24 (1): 1 – 21.
“Spanning Thousands of Miles and Years: Political Nostalgia and China’s Revival of the Silk Road,” International Studies Quarterly (2021) 65 (2): 294–305.
“Power or Influence? Making Sense of China’s Evolving Party-to-Party Diplomacy in Africa,” African Studies Quarterly (2020) 19 (3-4): 95–119.
“Contesting the international order by integrating it: the case of China’s Belt and Road initiative,” Third World Quarterly (2019) 40 (1): 92–108.
POL 257 The Politics of International Development
This course examines why some nations develop at a quite fast pace while others – even when rich in natural resources – still lag behind. Some of the themes explored throughout the course include probing the role and impact of colonial history, state-formation, civil conflicts and governance issues on economic growth and development. The course also aims at evaluating development models as seen in both the Washington Consensus through international institutions such as IMF and World bank, and the Beijing Consensus along with the new set of institutions established by China and other other emerging economies.
POL 242 China-Africa Encounters
China Africa encounters are one of the most important political, diplomatic, economic, and social phenomena of our times. Questions examined in this course include: is Africa, a rich continent of 54 countries with a long history of dependence on foreign powers, diversifying its dependence from Western to Eastern partners? Are African countries negotiating political, military, and economic deals with China in the most beneficial way to their citizens? China has come a long way from practicing an isolated foreign policy to becoming one of the most involved powers in world affairs in general and Africa specifically. Yet, China’s ways of conducting its foreign relations both bilaterally and through international institutions are comparatively different from practices and ways of doing common to Western countries. Therefore, it is important for students of Political Science to be able to follow, analyze, and critically think about questions of China’s influence on African states from governance, military, socio-economic and cultural perspectives.