Deborah Brautigam

Professor of International Development at the American University in Washington DC and author of The Dragon's Gift

Dr. Deborah Brautigam has been writing about China, Africa, state-building, governance and foreign aid for almost 30 years. Currently Professor of International Development at American University’s School of International Service, she has also held faculty appointments at Columbia University in New York, Silpakorn University in Thailand, and been a fellow with the Centre for Chinese Studies, Stellenbosch University, South Africa; the Universities of Liberia, Mauritius, and Sierra Leone; and C. Michelsen Institute in Bergen, Norway.

Dr. Brautigam is the author of The Dragon’s Gift: The Real Story of China in Africa published by Oxford University Press in December 2009. Her other books include Chinese Aid and African Development: Exporting the Green Revolution (St. Martin’s Press, 1998), Aid Dependence and Governance (Almquist & Wiksell, 2000). She was co-editor of Taxation and State-Building in Developing Countries: Capacity and Consent (Cambridge University Press, 2008). In addition to her books, Professor Brautigam has published over sixty scholarly articles, book chapters, and commentaries for the general public. Her work has been translated into Chinese, Spanish, Danish, and Turkish.

Dr. Brautigam has twice won the Fulbright research award, and is also a recipient of a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellowship, grants from the Smith Richardson Foundation and the German Marshall Fund of the United States, and a residency at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. In addition to her scholarship, Professor Brautigam is an award-winning teacher, and has served as a consultant for Transparency International, the United Nations, the World Bank, DfID, GTZ, DANIDA, the African Development Bank, and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Her Ph.D. is from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University.