After the influx of Central American unaccompanied child migrants to the U.S. southern border in 2014, the Northern Triangle governments of, Honduras, and Guatemala, and El Salvador, partnered with...Show moreAfter the influx of Central American unaccompanied child migrants to the U.S. southern border in 2014, the Northern Triangle governments of, Honduras, and Guatemala, and El Salvador, partnered with the Obama administration to implement the Alliance for Prosperity plan, a development initiative introduced by Northern Triangle governments to stem irregular migration through promoting regional economic growth and security. To support the Plan, the U.S. financed $1 billion in foreign aid assistance and programming. In reality, the Alliance for Prosperity plan was a continuation of the same neoliberal economic model in existence between the U.S. and Northern Triangle region for decades, which has been found to secure national security and business interests over that of inclusive growth among Central American societies. Considering President Biden’s $4 billion commitment to build on this model, the case study that follows seeks to explore through qualitative analysis the hypothesis that the previous Alliance for Prosperity plan was used to perpetuate neocolonial mechanisms of economic dependency, resource extraction, and territorial control, to undermine the Plan’s objective to inspire inclusive growth among the Central American people. The findings reveal that the Plan perpetuates neocolonialism by consistently implementing policies that exacerbate local inequalities and neglecting to enforce measures of transparency and accountability. Maintaining the status quo affords the U.S. favorable economic and security interests while at the same time ensuring the dominance of a Central American elitist class. Both partners lack an incentive to change development approaches, serving as an explanation to why foreign aid to address the Central American migrant crisis has undermined its own efforts.Show less
Throughout the 20th century the region of Latin America has been widely influenced by external actors such as the United States or international organizations, like the IMF or the World Bank. The...Show moreThroughout the 20th century the region of Latin America has been widely influenced by external actors such as the United States or international organizations, like the IMF or the World Bank. The influences of those actors gave rise to “dependency theory”, which highlights the inequalities between more powerful actors of the so-called “center” of the world and those of the “periphery”. As a response, Latin American countries have engaged in different attempts to decrease the influence of those external actors, while increasing their own. In the early 2000s, due to changes in its foreign policy, the focus of the United States on Latin America has decreased. The risen gap has allowed the recently grown superpower China to focus on the region. Consequently, the East-Asian country has become the first or second biggest trade partner for states like Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico or Venezuela. Next to the risen trade other bilateral relations, such as investments, combined attempts of development and political relations, have increased. While there are several apparent benefits for both sides, criticism has been voiced regarding a new version of dependency on China replacing that towards the United States. However, such criticism has mainly focused on assessing the international relations between China as a state and Latin America as an entire region. Therefore, by addressing the rising dependency, this paper will show that, in regard to Sino-Latin American relations, the region of Latin America cannot be analyzed as a whole but has to be divided into its nation states. By comparing the two case studies Chile and Venezuela and their respective relations with China the varying levels of dependency between China and different Latin American states will be portrayed.Show less
Following the abolition of the slave trade, colonial Cuba imported Chinese labourers to ensure a steady labour supply for their massive sugar production. After the Independence Wars that occurred...Show moreFollowing the abolition of the slave trade, colonial Cuba imported Chinese labourers to ensure a steady labour supply for their massive sugar production. After the Independence Wars that occurred between 1868-1898, the Chinese were heralded for their widespread involvement. Following U.S. annexation however, the Chinese were marked as a distinct 'other' which resulted in the Chinese Exclusion Act. This thesis traces the development from inclusion to exclusion and argues that Chinese labour exclusion in Cuba was facilitated by a two-fold dependency on sugar and the U.S., ultimately leading to extreme nationalist and anti-foreign sentiments that completely excluded Chinese labourers from the Cuban nation-state.Show less
The aim of this thesis is to explore the role of Chinese economic involvement in Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as in the specific case of the Democratic Republic of Congo, in order to evaluate the...Show moreThe aim of this thesis is to explore the role of Chinese economic involvement in Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as in the specific case of the Democratic Republic of Congo, in order to evaluate the extent to which dependency theory accurately describes these relationships. While this paper argues that patterns of dependency might not be accurate in describing Sino-African trade, the same cannot be asserted when looking at Sino-Congolese trade, which appears to embody centre-periphery dynamics. However, when addressing Chinese economic relations with Congo, another major aspect that needs consideration is investment. The potential impact that Chinese investment could have in the DRC deepens the analysis on the nature of Sino-Congolese relationship and proves that dependency theory does not provide an accurate depiction even in the Congolese case.Show less
