East Africa region amid China – US tensions: threats and opportunities

In this less-predictable multipolar world, China and the United States are perceived as two superpowers with vested interests in the value of the East Africa region. The region is a key node in the Chinese project “One Belt, One Road,” with Chinese economic and political presence most prominent in Kenya, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Kenya, as an apparent geopolitical point of tension, is the main state stronghold for China in the region. At the same time, it maintained its attachment to the Western Block in the course of the Cold War even since its independence. In neighbouring Somalia, the United States influence is most marked, with presence through military operations and NGOs. States in the East Africa region are attempting to gain ‘the best of two worlds’, between Chinese expansionism and the continued enticement of US economic power. The paper explores how identities are shaped or influenced by major international economic realignments. It asks, what are the responses in the states of the region to the newly established circumstances and potential for (re)colonization of the economy and the mind in an era of indeterminacy.