Portuguese Journal of International Affairs
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Portuguese 5 Journal of International Affairs SPRING/SUMMER 2011 Portuguese Journal of International Affairs João Domingues Design Portuguese Institute of International Relations João Gomes Porto Teresa Cardoso Bastos and Security (IPRIS) Laura C. Ferreira-Pereira Rua Vitorino Nemésio, 5 Luís Tomé Printing 1750-306 Lisboa Maria do Céu Pinto Europress PORTUGAL Maria Francisca Saraiva Email: [email protected] Miguel Monjardino ISSN Miguel Morgado 1647-4074 Editor Nuno Canas Mendes Paulo Gorjão Patrícia Ferreira Paula Duarte Lopes Editorial Board Pedro Seabra Ana Cristina Alves Susana Moreira Bruno Cardoso Reis Vasco Martins Francisco Proença Garcia Ivo Sobral Aims and scope Copyright and offprints Submissions will be dealt with promptly, and The Portuguese Journal of International Affairs It is a condition of publication in the Portugue- the editors will communicate a first decision to is a refereed journal specializing in the politics, se Journal of International Affairs that authors contributors within six weeks of submission. foreign policies and security-related issues of grant copyright to IPRIS. This ensures that re- Detailed notes follow: Portugal and its wider geostrategic area. quests from third parties to reproduce articles 1. The maximum length of articles, including The aims of the Portuguese Journal of Inter- are handled efficiently and consistently and will endnotes, is 4500 words. national Affairs are twofold: to bring readers also allow the article to be as widely dissemina- 2. Subheadings should be used to clarify and outstanding general scholarship and provide an ted as possible. In assigning copyright, authors divide the structure of the articles; if more outlet for scholars working on the international may use their own material in publications pro- than one level of subheadings is used, they relations of Portugal and its wider geostrategic vided that the Portuguese Journal of Internatio- must be clearly differentiated. Subheadings area. The journal will be circulated to all foreign nal Affairs is acknowledged as the original place should not be numbered. embassies in Portugal as well as to all Portu- of publication, and IPRIS is notified in writing 3. The author’s name, institutional affiliation, guese embassies abroad, hundreds of libraries, and in advance. In consideration for assignment and full contact details (postal, phone, fax, universities and think tanks around the world. of copyright, IPRIS will supply the author with and email) should be provided on a separate The Portuguese Journal of International Affairs a PDF file of the article and a hard copy of the sheet. will focus on: the relations between the Portu- Portuguese Journal of International Affairs. 4. Endnotes should be avoided, or kept to a mi- guese speaking countries; the relations betwe- nimum. Authors should pay particular atten- en the Portuguese speaking countries and the Subscriptions tion to the accuracy and correct presentation rest of the world; and general issues of politics, Please contact IPRIS at the above address for of endnotes. Examples: international relations and security that have further details. Books and monographs: Maria Raquel Frei- a bearing on one or more of the Portuguese re, Conflict and Security in the Former Soviet speaking countries. The journal will be open to Advertising Union: The Role of the Osce (Aldershot: Ash- all methodological approaches and schools of Advertising is welcomed. Contact IPRIS at the gate, 2003), p. 45. thought. Among the topics that fall within the above address for further details. Edited books: Alexandra Barahona de Bri- journal’s focus are: to, Carmen González-Enríquez and Paloma • Portugal’s economic diplomacy Article submission Aguilar (eds.), The Politics of Memory: Transi- • Transatlantic relations between the US and The Portuguese Journal of International Affairs tional Justice in Democratizing Societies (New Portugal invites original contributions meeting the York: Oxford University Press, 2001). • Angola’s regional role in Africa journal’s aims and scope. All papers will be Chapters in books: Manuel Ennes Ferreira, • Reform of the UN: Brazil and the Security subject to anonymous peer review, and will “China in Angola: Just a Passion for Oil?”, Council be evaluated on the basis of their creativity, in Christopher Alden, Daniel Large and Ri- • Brazil’s regional role quality of scholarship, and contribution to ad- cardo Soares de Oliveira (eds.), China Returns • Transition to democracy in Guinea-Bissau vancing the understanding of the international to Africa: A Rising Power and a Continent Em- • Mozambique and SADC relations of Portugal and its wider geostrategic brace (New York: Columbia University Press, • Community of Portuguese Speaking Coun- area. 2008), pp. 295-317. tries (CPLP) Papers should be submitted to: Articles in journals: Paulo Gorjão, “Japan’s • Timor Leste and ASEAN Foreign Policy and East Timor, 1975–2002” • EU and Cape Verde Paulo Gorjão (Asian Survey, Vol. 42, No. 5, September/Oc- • Macau after 1999 Editor, Portuguese Journal of International Affairs tober 2002), pp. 754-771. • China and the African Portuguese speaking Portuguese Institute of International Relations Articles in newspapers: Paulo Gorjão, “UN countries and Security (IPRIS) needs coherent strategy to exit from East • São Tomé and Príncipe and the Gulf of Guinea Rua Vitorino Nemésio, 5 Timor” (Jakarta Post, 19 May 2004), p. 25. • Maghreb and the EU energy security strategy 1750-306 Lisboa 5. Diagrams and tables should be avoided, or • BRIC’s: a new bloc? PORTUGAL kept to a minimum. • NATO and African Union Email: [email protected] Japan AND LUSOPHONE Africa: TEPID outcomes, greater OPPORTUNITIES? | PEDRO SEABRA 9 Japan and Lusophone Africa: tepid outcomes, greater opportunities? PEDRO SEABRA Affiliated Researcher, IPRIS As a continent, Africa has long held a preferential, if not controversial, focus on the international agenda. With varying degrees of commitment from the international community toward a region with a wide array of structural shortcomings, frequently disturbed by unrest, corruption and warfare, it is not unusual to witness multiple external actors vying to provide political, economic and technical assistance to the beleaguered continent. Among this group, one major power is frequently ignored in the public perception of international aid dynamics in Africa. Indeed, for all purposes, Japan is often unacknowledged amidst these aid efforts, which contributes to sustain an erroneous image of tenuous disengagement with the African continent. This apparent low profile, however, is at odds with the country’s own professed designs to expand its relationship with Africa, as evidenced by the successive Tokyo International Conferences on African Development (TICAD) in the last two decades, which have been used as a formal launching pad to accentuate Japanese influence among African countries, expand aid disbursements, and thus elevate Japan’s overall foreign policy profile. In this context, with three years on from TICAD IV, one possible case for an analysis of Japan’s standing towards Africa may lie with Portuguese-speaking African Countries (Países Africanos de Língua Oficial Portuguesa, or PALOP). Although these countries do not, by all means, provide the perfect representation of their own continent, they do reflect different realities, stages of development, levels of stability, availability of resources and economic opportunities. Hence, they can perhaps help to understand how effectively Japan has adapted its ‘African strategy’ to different contingencies emanating from local developments and how far Japan has inserted itself into these countries’ own international priorities and aid strategies as a valuable partner. This article will therefore examine the framework of Japan’s current engagement with the African continent and more specifically with Lusophone Africa, trying to understand how this relationship – or lack thereof – has evolved up to the present day. In order to establish the required context, we will look at the magnitude of Japan’s international aid commitments as well as its renewed interest in the development of the continent over 10 PORTUGUESE JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS | NUMBER 5 | SPRING/SUMMER 2011 recent years. Using the last decade as an indicative timeframe, we can then focus on the relationship between Japan and the Lusophone African countries, with a specific focus on aid receptiveness but also including other vectors such as political and economic relations with each other. Finally, conclusions will be drawn as for Japan’s actual insertion in these countries and the sustainability of its approach in the coming future, with implications for Japanese overall strategy in the rest of the continent. Japan and Africa: the road taken Contrary to a widespread perception that it has been largely a post-World War II phenomenon, Japan’s relations with the African continent can be unmistakably traced back further, in particular to the colonial period of the early 20th century. Indeed, “it is a myth to say that Japan had ‘clean hands’ in Africa” during the inter-war years.1 Although with an undeniably lower intensity than the remaining industrializing powers, Japan also took part in the so-called “scramble for Africa”, vying to secure a cheap and stable supply of raw materials – initially focusing on cotton – while taking advantage of the low level of development of several colonies which ended up constituting valuable markets for, among others, Japanese manufactured