‘The Key to solving all problems’? Unpacking China’s development-as-security approach in Mali

There is a robust scholarship examining the security–development nexus in international development and international security studies. However, this scholarship has thus far mainly offered perspectives from Western actors and traditional development agencies such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). This article makes a theoretical and an empirical contribution to the literature by rethinking the security–development nexus from the perspective of Chinese foreign assistance practices. Theoretically, we submit that the nexus rests on different assumptions when studied from a non-OECD perspective. That is, instead of the increasingly militarised development industry arising from the US-led global War on Terror, security has been understood by China in terms of economic growth and development opportunities. Consequently, we argue that development-as-security better captures Chinese foreign policy approaches to the nexus. Empirically, the article offers an evaluation of the application of China’s development-as-security nexus. It examines this nexus in the context of the ongoing crisis in Mali. Additionally, in light of Xi Jinping’s recently announced Global Security Initiative, this article offers an empirical assessment of the potentials and challenges of China’s development-centred approach to peace.