Putin’s ambitions for BRICS falter amid member disagreements. Expansion has stalled and its center of gravity may shift toward India and China.
Global South
In 2025, South Africa’s G20 presidency should focus on global economic governance, IMF reform, and addressing dynamic global issues.
The West is in denial over the tectonic shift in the world order toward a more assertive Global South, precipitated by the Ukraine and Gaza wars.
Many in the U.S. believe that strengthening India as a counterbalance to China is more important than championing the cause of Ukraine.
Obtuse remarks on the Ukraine war by a British diplomat in Pakistan reflect the West’s failure to convict the Global South to take its side.
The meeting in Jeddah, inconclusive as it may have been, signals a continuing shift in Ukraine’s favor, albeit at glacial speed.
Ukraine is struggling to gain support in the Global South, which is ambivalent about the invasion and reticent to cut off ties with Russia.
The Russia-Africa summit highlights the increasing importance of Africa to Russian foreign policy and President Vladimir Putin’s image.
The Global South is flexing political and economic muscles that the “developing countries” and the “Third World” never had.
Countries like Brazil and India pursue “active non-alignment” amid renewed great power rivalry, exerting influence in ways unthinkable before.