O fortalecimento da relação Sino-Etiope entre 1995 e 2018: as alterações de política externa da Etiópia e a influência do Economic Statecraft chinês

Abstract

The intense Chinese economic growth in recent decades has had international consequences, showing China's influence throughout the world. This Chinese projection has also been presented on the African continent, where the superpower has strengthened relations with several states, such as Ethiopia. Understanding that the pursuit of political goals through the use of influence and available economic mechanisms is described by the concept of economic statecraft, this research proposes to study the deepening of the relationship between China and Ethiopia between 1995 and 2018 based on this concept. In this way, looking for indicators in the fields of trade promotion, investment and also foreign aid, described as some of the main axes of projection by economic statecraft. Allied to this is the examination of possible changes in Ethiopian foreign policy during the period based on the Foreign Policy Change Model proposed by Charles Hermann (1990). Realizing the particularities of the concepts and models applied, this work aims through literature review to study the dynamics from the hypothesis that possible changes in Ethiopian foreign policy during the period may have been influenced by Chinese projection through the use of economic statecraft tools. From the study, it can be seen that in fact the period analyzed includes a process of changes in Ethiopian foreign policy at the level of program changes, a degree that does not configure a total reorganization of the area, which, in the case of Ethiopia, remains with principles quite consolidated since the formation of the Ethiopian Empire. It is also concluded that the Chinese projection in the country through the tools of economic statecraft precedes the Ethiopian political interest in rapprochement with the Asian power seen at the beginning of the 21st century and is configured as essential for the strengthening of relations decades later.