Written by Rafsi Albar
2024 marks a significant year for global governance. Among other things, the general election victories of the likes of Indonesia’s Prabowo Subianto and Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum come conveniently before some of the most awaited intergovernmental events such as the G20 Summit in Brazil and the United Nations’ Summit of the Future. These leaders, according to analysts, could play strong roles in the recourse of international politics by being more proactive at forums than their predecessors. Beyond that, however, they are also indications of a larger phenomenon: the reawakening of the Global South.
The proposition of a Global South that once meant a united front by the world’s developing countries in the face of post-world war hegemons had for a time experienced a downtime in its use as an advocacy tool. The Group of 77 which was established in the 1960s as a beacon of the movement, for instance, has grown in membership over the years to now cover no less than two-thirds of the global population but dwindled in impact. After historic strides in the formative stages of the law of the sea and environmental law, its forerunners became complacent. For one, the brute force of the neoliberal economic system brings with it an opportunity for select countries to enlist into the big boys’ club, albeit resulting in an entrapping toxic tryst.
Apprehension towards the Global South is also prevalent in recent times, leaving discussions pertaining to it only in academic circles. If anything, powerful nations predominant in the West are putting their guards up against potential defiers and their arsenal of thinkers dismissing even the idea of it. An interesting supposition in this regard is that such a ‘polarizing’ label is an oversimplifying gesture that prevents progress. Sardonically, this view is itself an oversimplification of the Global South by confining its definition to what it used to be in its early days and throwing shade in the form of unduly skepticism of its efficacy as an impetus for programmatic change at the international level.
Fragmentation among Global South countries is becoming more rampant....
This is not to say, however, that all criticisms are unfounded. Fragmentation among Global South countries is becoming more rampant as a number of countries start adopting neo-colonial economic practices and unseemly selectivity in enforcing commitments to issues like human rights. Global South governments, inheriting the colonial ways of work and economic burdens of their past, oftentimes will find it hard to circumvent the challenges and lures of the mainstream world order. Pinning undue confidence on establishments of the state, therefore, may lead only to disillusionment.
Like many other movements, the Global South has broadened in its scope to more than a grouping of nation-states to a concept of equity in the way the world and its institution across level operates. The actors involved in its advocacy have now included not only states but also non-governmental organizations and even individuals. While one could argue that sovereigns tend not to change behaviors in response to pressure from its co-equals, the same may not be said about its relation with its citizens. When the people who give governments their legitimacy no longer stand behind or at least acquiesce to their actions, political leaders should rightfully be alarmed.
In a perfectly ironic arc, it is the West’s own expeditions that are turning their people against them. The situation in Gaza epitomizes this, whereby the United States refused to impose conditions on its support for Israel until the recent tragedy in Rafah, following the steps of its other proponents that have taken more reserved stances as atrocities went unabated. Although the real reasons behind these pivots remain convoluted if at all identifiable, it is not unreasonable to assume that continuing to enforce crackdowns on protests is not a sustainable political move, especially nearing elections. Decision-makers are now faced with the reality that not only is unipolarity a thing of the past, the biggest threat to stability comes not from a faraway land but instead at home.
Statesmen, scholars, and activists seeking to advance their West-critical agenda now see a timely opportunity to bring their perspectives to popular discourse. The Global South has now become more than just a sentiment of peoples in the developing world against their former colonizers. Rather, it is now some sort of a living spirit that breathes through struggles against autocratic proclivity anywhere in the world. Like in international legal scholarship, the blueprint that is the Global South may find its most avid patrons from within the West. In fact, it is quintessential to be cognizant of this evolution in which the Global South forms an ideology that transcends borders and unites all.
The headways that have been made thus far ought to be maintained through the continued championing of a more equitable global governance system. The emergence of middle to great economic and political powers from among the Global South like India with its rising prominence as the world’s new technological and pharmaceutical powerhub, Brazil’s bold maneuvers as an initiator among Latin American countries through platforms like of Mercosur and CELAC, as well as Indonesia’s cross-regional influence through initiatives like the Indonesia-Africa Forum signals hope. With strengthened ties among South governments as culminated in the Voice of Global South Summit last year, a homework that is left relates more to the strategy of persuasion to drive productive dialogue with stakeholders that are yet convinced. Upcoming events hosted by the UN and the G20 make for a great starting point, and representatives should join hands in putting the momentum to advantage.
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Foreign Policy and Public Division
About the Writer
Rafsi Albar is a government advisor and the Indonesian official delegation to the G20 Youth Forum (Y20) 2024 in the Reform of the Global Governance System track. He now acts as the Editor-in-Chief of Juris Gentium Law Review.
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