Paper: Emerging powers and humanitarian assistance: New donors or old partners

Paper details

Paper authors Lina Gong
In panel on Humanitarianism and Inequality
Paper presenter(s) will be presenting In-Person / Online

Abstract

This article analyzes how emerging powers seek global status through providing humanitarian aid, with a focus on China and India. It engages the debate on emerging donors and the broad literature on global governance. Drawing from the status-seeking strategy of social creativity informed by the social identity theory, this article argues that the two emerging powers seek their status in the global humanitarian system by framing their humanitarian assistance in the context of the South-South cooperation, reinforcing engagement with international and regional organizations, and focusing their aid on less controversial areas. They adopt this strategy due to their normative preference, capacity constraint and historical experience. Respective comparative strengths lead to divergence between China and India in specific policies and priorities. The article selects the humanitarian action overseas of the two countries during COVID-19 to illustrate their social creativity effort in the global humanitarian system.

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Presenters

Lina Gong
RSIS, NTU
Nanthini S
S. Rajaratnam School of Intern...