Silvio Erkens

Constructivism or Realism? Silvio Erkens

Why did the US impose sanctions on Sudan? Why does China support the regime of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe? To know the answer to such questions we need to know what the drivers behind US and Chinese foreign policy in Africa are. This book investigates whether material interests or ideational interests have more strength in explaining the foreign policy behaviour of China and the US regarding sanctions in Sub-Saharan Africa. In this context it looks at three specific countries in Sub-Saharan Africa; Zimbabwe, Somalia and Sudan. To test whether material or ideational interests have more explanatory power, the research applies structural realism and constructivism as the theories representative of the explanations focusing on material factors and ideational interests respectively. The research focuses on a variety of interests such as human rights, terrorism, oil and more.