Stoking USA-China Rivalry: Zimbabwe and the Internationalization of Its Anti-Sanctions Agenda

Chiyemura, Frangton and Obert, Hodzi (2023). Stoking USA-China Rivalry: Zimbabwe and the Internationalization of Its Anti-Sanctions Agenda. In: Roberts, Kari and Bano, Saira eds. The Ascendancy of Regional Powers in Contemporary US-China Relations Rethinking the Great Power Rivalry. Global Foreign Policy Studies. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 215–237.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-37612-2_12

Abstract

This chapter examines how small states in the Global South strategically internationalise their bilateral conflicts with great powers. We develop and employ the concept of strategic internationalisation to explain the process through which small states deploy and amplify their fight against a hostile great power by aligning their cause with that of other regional and global powers to discredit and derive benefits. Based on the empirical case of Zimbabwe, which has been under US sanctions for over two decades, the chapter examines how the Zimbabwean political elites and government have, through a range of strategies, engaged regional powers and organisations, as well as non-Western global powers such as China, to build a loose alliance able to internationalise and give credence to its fight against the international sanctions. This chapter challenges realist assumptions that small “states suffer what they must” by explaining how and under what conditions small states can succeed in de-legitimising the actions of great powers and build international solidarity mechanisms to support their cause against great powers, thus stoking great power rivalry.

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