The rise of the "Global South" brings changes to the world economy - thediplomaticaffairs.com

Geneva, Switzerland

Economics World August 4, 2024

The rise of the “Global South” brings changes to the world economy

Photo: Reuters

The concept of “Global South” has continued to heat up and become a high-frequency topic in the world. In international politics, “South” and “North” can be traced back to the 1950s and 1960s. Some developing countries that had emerged from colonial rule and achieved national liberation began to use the term “South” explicitly. The term indicated a big inequality with the “North” represented by the industrialized countries. In the meantime, “South-South cooperation” has become an important international affair for developing countries. “South-South cooperation” helps these countries carry out economic and technological cooperation and pursue self-development. After the Cold War, with developing countries’ rapid and collective rise and their increasingly important role in global affairs, the concept of the “Global South” has gradually become popular. People intend to focus on the development and cooperation of the “South Countries” from a holistic perspective.

In short, the “Global South” is not an international organization or political bloc, nor does it have a clear membership structure. The “Global South” is an identity formed by emerging market countries and developing countries based on similar historical circumstances, current development stages, common development goals, and common political aspirations.

The rise of the “Global South” relates to the continuous improvement of its economic power. As a collection of emerging market countries and developing countries, the “Global South” has contributed as much as 80% to world economic growth in the past 20 years. Their global share of GDP has increased from 24% to more than 40% in the past 40 years, which is profoundly rewriting the world economy. “Global South” plays a huge role in world economic development and has a bigger and bigger influence in economic zones.

At the same time, in the field of peace, the Global South also plays an important role. As a leader of the Global South, China is committed to promoting world peace. Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to restore diplomatic relations last March under Chinese brokers, and now China has pushed for reconciliation among Palestinian factions.

At the invitation of China, Palestinian factions, including Fatah and Hamas, held reconciliation dialogues in Beijing from 2024 July 21 to 23. On the morning of 23 July, the closing ceremony was held in Beijing and representatives of Palestinian factions signed the Beijing Declaration, which aimed at ending division and strengthening Palestinian unity.

The most important consensus of this diplomatic dialogue is to commit to the great reconciliation and unity of all 14 factions. It also made clear that the PLO(Palestine Liberation Organization) was the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. Meanwhile, they also reached an agreement about post-war governance in Gaza.

While it is true that the Global South is playing an increasingly important role on the international stage, however, the economic development and peace of the world require the joint efforts of all. The world economy needs every country’s contribution. The same is true of peace. As recently as July 31, when the Hamas leader was assassinated in Iran, the efforts of the Beijing declaration may be greatly reduced. Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine are still at war. Peace and development are the common aspirations of all mankind, whether in the South or the North.

By Le Tianyu

Related Posts