Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Economics and Political Science - Department of Political Science

The relationship between EU and African countries came under scrutiny in the years following the independence of African countries, which initiated the debate between advocates of neo-colonialism vis-à-vis advocates of mutual beneficial relationship. Such debate never stopped and gets new momentum due to the growing relationship between China and African countries.The debate prompted the main argument of the thesis, which focused on investigating the raison d'être behind such allegations along with exploring the theories of analysis.Two theories were used within the International Political Economy: the first is theory of Interdependence to investigate the mutual benefit between EU and/or China vis-à-vis Egypt; and the second is the Dependency theory to study the allegations of neo-colonialism performed by either EU or China. Egypt was selected as the case study due to its solid relationship with EU and China.The study time frame is from 2007 until 2017.The thesis relied on three indicators to investigate the main argument: trade, FDI, and development aid. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of trade and FDI did not reflect aneo-colonial relationship.The analysis assures the solid interdependence between Egypt and EU and showsa growing interdependence between Egypt and China. In reference to development aid, EU and China vary in aid allocation and disbursement, which underminesthe comparison but did not neglect the importance of development aid for developing countries pursuing their development path especially when it coincides with national development strategies

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