China has built infrastructure across Africa (African Union headquarters, roads in East Africa, ports along the coast) while the US is dismantling its development capacity, meaning the US cannot win geopolitical competition with China by eliminating the insufficient commitment it already has to competing in those spaces.
causalpending
Speaker
Ben RhodesEvidence Quote
“that building was built by the Chinese government the road to that building was built by the Chinese government um the ports uh along the coast of East Africa are built by the Chinese government and the idea that we're going to win some big geopolitical competition with China by dismantling the already insufficient amount of commitment the United States has to um competing in those spaces um you know I I I think it's going to be the opposite”
Source
Ben Rhodes: The Warren and Anita Manshel Lecture in American Foreign Policy— Weatherhead Center for International AffairsCreated: 8/11/2026, 7:23:32 AM
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