“… Collins, founder of China SignPost, said soft power has long been a distinguishing feature of US foreign policy, and the current administration would be best served by taking a multilateral approach to relations in Africa.”For the price of a single drone or fighter jet you could establish multiple university branches, and you would still have the funds to support those over the long haul,” he said.”It’s not an instant payoff for someone who has the impatience of some of our current administration, but if we took a root cause strategy, 10 years from now there would be enormous dividends from that.”
Deep Dive China SignPost research on China’s Presence in Djibouti:
Gabriel B. Collins and Andrew S. Erickson, “Djibouti Likely to Become China’s First Indian Ocean Outpost,” China SignPost™ (洞察中国) 91 (11 July 2015).
China is now laying the diplomatic and legal foundations for a long-term naval presence in Djibouti, with a range of recent media reports alleging that Beijing is negotiating for naval access in the country. The facilities would likely be located at Obock, on Djibouti’s northern coast (Exhibit 1). While China will not formally call the facilities a “base” anytime soon, it will likely function in a manner that brings it awfully close to being one in all but name…
