ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the context and main trends in studies of China’s expanding security relations with Africa. While security has travelled from a relatively marginal to a more prominent, manifest position as a policy issue in a fairly short space of time, there remains a relative paucity of scholarly analysis. In the face of the growing importance of the theme, security is a notable new frontier in China–Africa and Africa–China studies. The chapter considers how security has been approached in terms of main traditional, non-traditional, and human security theoretical approaches, before examining how China fits into questions concerning the relationship between development and security and considering possible avenues for research. While China’s engagement with Africa’s security can’t be approached in isolation from other regional engagements and Beijing’s evolving global role, the continent is a revealing theater showcasing Chinese foreign policy experimentation in the realm of security.
