Henry Tugendhat is an economist with the China team at the U.S. Institute of Peace. He focuses on issues related to China's impact on conflict dynamics in Africa and Latin America.

Tugendhat has worked on these issues for over a decade through previous employment at the Institute of Development Studies in the U.K., the China-Africa Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins University SAIS, and the World Bank Group’s macroeconomics, trade and investment team. His core areas of interest include conflict, economics and telecommunications in the context of China-Africa and China-Latin America relations.

Tugendhat lived and worked in China for three years and holds a master’s from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London and a bachelor’s from the University of Leeds. He speaks Mandarin, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.

He has been featured in the Financial Times, the Economist and the Washington Post among other publications. He has also published peer-reviewed journal articles and is currently finishing his PhD at Johns Hopkins University SAIS.

Publications By Henry

A Public Perceptions Survey of China in Venezuela

A Public Perceptions Survey of China in Venezuela

Wednesday, November 20, 2024

This discussion paper presents and analyzes original data gathered in June 2023 on Venezuelan perceptions of China and the United States. The results show that China’s standing in Venezuela has declined in absolute terms and relative to the United States, which is commensurate with trends elsewhere in Latin America. Furthermore, it suggests the orientation of Venezuela’s foreign policy—including forging close ties to China and alienating the United States—is inconsistent with Venezuelan public preferences. Venezuelans, however, are not fully satisfied with the policy approach of either China or the United States toward Venezuela.

Type: Discussion Paper

Global Policy

Is China Eyeing a Second Military Base in Africa?

Is China Eyeing a Second Military Base in Africa?

Tuesday, January 30, 2024

For over three decades, every Chinese foreign minister’s first overseas trip of the year has been to Africa. This year continued the tradition with China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, visiting Egypt, Tunisia, Togo and Côte d'Ivoire. Notably, every one of these countries is coastal. And yet, at a time of continued speculation over China’s next military installation in Africa, none of these countries has featured prominently as potential locations in previous analyses. We might, therefore, reasonably ask what China’s current considerations are around basing in Africa. Faced with an increasingly multipolar and assertive Africa at a time of domestic economic challenge, however, China’s long-term strategy remains unclear.

Type: Analysis

Global Policy

Why China is Rebooting the Belt and Road Initiative

Why China is Rebooting the Belt and Road Initiative

Thursday, October 26, 2023

World leaders gathered in China last week for the third forum on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Xi Jinping’s massive, trillion-dollar physical and digital connectivity project. As the BRI turns 10 this year, Beijing is looking to reboot Xi’s signature foreign policy program amid criticism of the debt load it often burdens partner countries with and other environmental and human concerns. In light of these criticisms, China emphasized last week that the future of the BRI is “smaller” and “greener” projects.

Type: Analysis

EconomicsGlobal Policy

What BRICS Expansion Means for the Bloc’s Founding Members

What BRICS Expansion Means for the Bloc’s Founding Members

Wednesday, August 30, 2023

After more than 40 countries expressed interest in joining, the question of whether BRICS would admit new members was finally answered during the group’s summit last week. Despite pre-summit reports of division over the potential expansion, leaders from the five-nation bloc announced that Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) would join the group starting in 2024.

Type: Analysis

Global Policy

Henry Tugendhat on the Geopolitical Impact of BRICS Expansion

Henry Tugendhat on the Geopolitical Impact of BRICS Expansion

Tuesday, August 29, 2023

The expansion of BRICS is a significant step in the bloc’s push to counterbalance the Western-led international order. But as a consensus-based group, “the question remains to what extent will they agree on what [that] alternative world order might look like,” says USIP’s Henry Tugendhat.

Type: Podcast

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