For hundreds of years the continent of Africa has been the scene of destitute poverty, deadly disease, and destructive war. Western powers are often blamed for the miserable state of affairs seen throughout most of the continent and pay massive reparations to support impoverished African nations.  Although Western governments contribute foreign aid to poverty-stricken Africa, they simultaneously allow Western businesses to take advantage of unfair trade policies. In contrast, the Chinese have embarked on what is one of the most brilliant, yet under-appreciated, geopolitical campaigns of our time—and in so doing, they are changing the African landscape.

China’s place in the global economy has been a vocal point for decades, but never so much as in the past few years. In its surprising transition from “developing” to “developed,” China has almost single-handedly shifted the global power focus toward Asia. American fears have largely been pacified by the fact that, because they were buying up large amounts of treasury bonds, the Yuan would be worthless if anything catastrophic happened to the U.S. economy. Aware of their economic dependence on Western trade, China reached out for alternative markets to balance out the Western role. One of their most successful ventures was in Africa.

China has several advantages in developing Africa. Democratically elected leaders must present a good image or risk losing their next election. They cannot afford to be seen supporting dictators. As dictators rule many of world’s poorest nations, foreign aid programs are notoriously plagued with corruption and inefficiency. China’s authoritarian government has no need to worry about constituents or popularity ratings, however. Whereas Western countries always try to condition their assistance on compliance to human rights regulations, the first principle of Chinese foreign aid is mutual respect for national sovereignty. This has increased cooperation among leaders and has contributed to operational efficiency. Also, Chinese workers are far better suited to the local conditions. While Western workers consider African assignments difficult, Chinese workers are relatively comfortable. Though importing Chinese labor has not helped local unemployment in Africa, new roads, bridges, manufacturing facilities, and refineries are rapidly improving the local economies. In fact, China has had more success developing Africa since 2000 than the West has had since 1800. African children are dropping English and French studies in favor of Chinese. Cleaning up the West’s mess in Africa is giving China significant political capital, as well as access to vast amounts of resources.

The effects of these development projects are far-reaching. Because of its assets in and around the horn of Africa, China has reason to police the waters of the Arabian Gulf for Somali pirates. This gave it a legitimate excuse to build up its Navy, which added significant strength to the Chinese military. Had China done this without pretext, the international community would have fiercely protested. Justified by the need to protect its interests in Africa, however, it received warm thanks for its support against piracy. This also allowed China to appear to be a more responsible member of the international community, and to gain greater political credibility.

In 2008, as the economies of most of the world began to decline rapidly, China was able to weather the crisis without as much difficulty. Because it had diversified its economy, its fate was not tied to that of the United States. True, China also has many successful contracts in Russia and Central Asia, but its most vital capital development has been in Africa, where it now has a significant presence in 49 of the continent’s countries.

By developing Africa, China has not only revitalized much of the continent, but it has also done much to secure its own future. Whereas Western countries have only thus far managed to get caught in quagmires, the Chinese have shown the world that they could accomplish what the West could only discuss. In so doing, China has also legitimately increased its military and political power and obtained far greater economic stability. If Western nations should choose to follow China’s model, then China will, most incredibly, have managed to bring African development back into vogue.

Chandler is a junior studying political science.