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Picture Courtesy: THE HINDU

Context:

The 17th BRICS Summit in Brazil highlighted the Global South's growing influence and challenges in South-South cooperation.

What is the Global South?

It describes a group of countries largely in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. It is not just about the country's location on the map. For example, Australia is in the Southern Hemisphere, but considered as part of the "Global North" because it is a developed country.

The "Global South" refers to countries that share a history of being colonized by powerful Western nations. These countries often face ongoing struggles with global inequalities, meaning they are less wealthy and developed compared to the "Global North." They want to change the world order, which has historically been dominated by Western powers.

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What is "South-South Cooperation"?

"South-South cooperation" is when countries in the Global South work together. They help each other to develop, share knowledge, and build stronger relationships. Their main goal is to create a fairer world where they have more say and can achieve progress without always depending on the rich Western countries.

The idea of countries in the Global South working together started a long time ago. Meetings like the Bandung Conference in 1955 and movements like the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) helped these initiatives, that aimed to:

Boost cooperation: They encouraged economic and cultural cooperation among these nations.
Promote human rights: They wanted to ensure respect for human rights everywhere.
Create a new economic order: They pushed for a "New International Economic Order" (NIEO) to make global trade and finance fairer. They especially wanted former colonies to have control over their own natural resources and be able to nationalize important industries.

What Happened at the Recent BRICS Summit?

United Stance on Global Issues => The members showed strong agreement on major geopolitical issues, like the situations in Gaza and Iran, often taking positions different from Western views.

Addressing Member Concerns => India successfully included a condemnation of a terror attack in Pahalgam, showing that BRICS can address diverse security concerns of its members.

Push for Greater Representation => The summit supported expanding the roles of India and Brazil in the UN Security Council, which is a long-standing demand for more Global South representation in global governance.

New "Partner Countries" => BRICS also introduced a new category for "partner countries" (like Belarus, Bolivia, and others). This shows that BRICS is growing and wants to include more countries from the Global South.

BRICS and the Global South

Even within BRICS, members have different priorities based on their unique situations:

Brazil: Focuses on environmental issues and sustainable development because it has the Amazon rainforest, while also looking out for its powerful agribusiness.
India: Prioritizes technology and services, as it has become a global leader in IT, but also maintains large agriculture and manufacturing sectors.
China: Its Belt and Road Initiative is a massive effort for South-South cooperation, building infrastructure in many developing countries. However, some worry it could lead to those countries owing too much money to China.
Russia: Even though Russia is mostly considered part of the Global North, its inclusion in BRICS shows that the group wants to challenge Western power and interests, not just follow geographical rules.

What are the Challenges BRICS and the Global South Face?

U.S. Dollar Dominance => The U.S. dollar remains the most important currency for global trade. Creating a working alternative currency system is very difficult, both technically and politically.

Western Reactions => Western powers are not ignoring BRICS. For example, a former U.S. President, Donald Trump, has threatened higher tariffs (taxes on goods) on countries that he believes align with "Anti-American policies of BRICS" or try to replace the U.S. dollar.

Western Adaptation => Western institutions also adapt. For example, the G20 group emerged partly to give emerging economies a seat at the table, even though Western powers still have a lot of influence in it.

What are the Internal Problems within BRICS?

China's Dominance => Some critics say China's strong economy leads to unequal trade patterns. They describe it as "near-colonial patterns of trade," where other developing nations export raw materials to China and import manufactured goods back, similar to old colonial relationships.

Conflicting Interests => Brazil, for example, advocates for fairer global trade systems, but at the same time, it champions the interests of its very competitive export-oriented farming businesses.

Russia's Actions => Russia's actions in Ukraine contradict the idea that South-South cooperation is purely about nations with a history of colonialism helping each other.

Way Forward

BRICS is currently the strongest group representing the hopes of the Global South. It provides developing nations collective economic power and a louder political voice in global affairs. However, the group must avoid simply becoming another stage for competition among powerful nations. Its real commitment lies in becoming a platform that genuinely focuses on the development needs and democratic wishes of the people in the Global South.

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Source:

THE HINDU

PRACTICE QUESTION

Q. Consider the following statements about the terms "Global North" and "Global South":

1. The terms "Global North" and "Global South" are geographical distinctions, delineating countries by their hemisphere.

2. The term "Global South" emerged as a less hierarchical alternative to "Third World" or "Developing World."

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

A) 1 only

B) 2 only

C) Both 1 and 2

D) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: B

Explanation:

Statement 1 is incorrect: The terms "Global North" and "Global South" are not geographical distinctions based on hemisphere.

Australia and New Zealand, despite being in the Southern Hemisphere, are considered part of the Global North due to their developed economies and other factors.
Some Countries in the Northern Hemisphere, like India and China, are considered part of the Global South.

Statement 2 is correct: The term "Global South" emerged as a less hierarchical alternative to the terms "Third World" and "Developing World". The term "Third World" was coined in 1952 and referred to nations that were developing, many of which were still under colonial rule at the time. However, the term gained negative connotations associated with poverty, instability, and negative stereotypes in Western media.