Kenya and the Emerging Power-Shift in Global Political-Economy: Right-Wing Populism and Social Media Activism

A potential global power transition characterized by emerging economies of BRICS where China is the likely leading contender against the United States as the only global hegemon seems inevitable. The increasingly multipolar world is evidenced by the attention given to right-wing populism in Europe and USA attributed to China’s aggressive approach to international trade through its stealth entry and subsequent investments in global political-economy. China’s presence in Africa and Trump’s America first policy’s attempt to open “new business frontiers” in emerging economies of Asia and Africa in order to contain Chinese influence and threat in global hegemony are interesting happenstances that require closer scrutiny. Kenya, the biggest economy in East Africa, which is among the fastest growing regions globally, is the gateway to the East African Common Market. Historically, Kenya has a policy of non-alignment in international relations making it possible to receive FDI from both China and the US but with highly contested elections. Therefore, Kenya presents a perfect laboratory for examining the emerging power-shift in global political-economy as the country grapples with traditionally chaotic electoral power transitions and the two biggest economies in the world compete for business in Nairobi. The 2017 elections not only betrayed the international community’s commitment to Western values of human rights and democracy, but also revealed the challenges of governance in post-World War II global liberalism characterized by sophisticated media institutional spaces.