I am primarily interested in the political economy of Africa and questions around the continent’s underdevelopment. I also work on the history of Afro-Asian ties, “emerging powers”, comparative regionalisms, Africa’s wider international relations and on Chinese foreign policy. These last two strands come together in a body of work, conducted since 1994 and based on extensive fieldwork across Africa and in China, on China’s relationships with the continent.

I also have an abiding interest in critical theory. This interest provided a framework for a recent book of mine, Global Governance and Transnationalising Capitalist Hegemony: The Myth of the “Emerging Powers”. It discusses the idea of “emerging powers” and their socialisation into the dominant capitalist system, utilising the ideas, among others, of Gramsci and Poulantzas.

I have also published a substantial body of work on South Africa’s post-apartheid foreign policies. This work was described by a peer as “represent[ing] probably the most articulate and theoretically self-conscious attempt to come to grips with the contradictions in South Africa’s foreign policy” (European Journal of Development Research).

I am currently writing a book on Indo-African ties, provisionally entitled Draining or Aiding? India’s Neoliberal Policies in Africa and co-editing a book on Chinese rail projects in Africa.