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Deborah Brautigam

Deborah Brautigam

Professor Emerita in International Political Economy

Director of China-Africa Research Initiative

About

Dr. Deborah Brautigam is the Bernard L. Schwartz Professor of Political Economy and Director of the China Africa Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

Her most recent books include The Dragon’s Gift: The Real Story of China in Africa (OUP, 2010) and Will Africa Feed China? (OUP, 2015). Before joining SAIS in 2012, she taught at Columbia University and American University. Dr. Bräutigam’s teaching and research focus on international development strategies, governance, and foreign aid.

She has twice won the Fulbright research award and is a recipient of fellowships from the Council on Foreign Relations, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and research grants from the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the UK Centre for Economic Policy and Research (CEPR).

She has served as a consultant for Transparency International, the United Nations, the World Bank, DFID, GIZ, DANIDA, the African Development Bank, and USAID, and has provided commentary to the Financial Times, the New York Times, the Guardian, CNN, NPR, Al-Jazeera, VOA, CCTV, and MSNBC. Dr. Bräutigam has been a visiting scholar at the World Bank, a senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and advised more than a dozen governments on China-Africa relations. Her PhD is from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University.

Brautigam, D. (2016). Will Africa feed China? Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Brautigam, D. (2009). The dragons gift: The real story of China in Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

 

Expertise

Topics

  • Agricultural Policy, Trade and Commodities
  • Corruption and Transnational Crime
  • Developing Nations
  • Economics
  • Economic Development
  • Globalization
  • Food Security
  • Foreign Aid and American Foreign Policy
  • Foreign Aid and Global Poverty
  • Governance
  • International Debt
  • Nation-building and Democratization
  • Newly Industrialized Countries
  • Oil Politics
  • Privatization and Private Sector Development
  • Rural Development
  • Sustainable Development

In the News

Is China ensnaring poor countries by building their infrastructure?

Deborah Brautigam quoted in Christian Science Monitor, 12/20

Why France and Germany won’t join China’s ‘Africa Quad’.

Deborah Brautigam wrote in East Asia Forum, 10/19

China in Africa: Zambia’s Chinese debts nearly double the official count, study says.

Deborah Brautigam quoted in South China Morning Post, 09/29

China, Africa and the big coronavirus debt relief question.

Deborah Brautigam quoted in South China Morning Post, 07/26

Why G-7 leaders’ rival plan to China’s Belt and Road Initiative is wrong-headed.

Deborah Brautigam quoted in South China Morning Post, 06/21

Wanted: Funding models that deal with Africa's infrastructure paradoxes.

Deborah Brautigam quoted in Financial Times, 05/31

Is China’s Belt and Road Initiative a threat to the U.S.?

Deborah Brautigam cited in The Diplomat, 05/22

hina's secret loans to developing nations pose problems, study finds.

Deborah Brautigam cited in Deutsche Welle, 03/31

China cut lending to Africa in 2019 as debt fears grew.

Deborah Brautigam quoted in Financial Times, 03/29