2023-09-01 01:29:24
03:29 GMT, September 1, 2023
Valdir da Silva Bezerra
Columnist
The last BRICS summit in South Africa marked a milestone in the history of international relations, with the approval of the entry of six new members to the group. This true revolution of the BRICS also represents a kind of revolt of the so-called Third World against the central powers of the system.
Lea in Sputnik
First of all, it is necessary to remember that the term Third World was used (loosely) during the Cold War to refer to the economically less developed countriesbelonging to Asia, Africa and Latin America. These nations had certain common characteristics, such as higher levels of poverty, high levels of inequality, and economic dependence on Western countries.
For its part, the so-called First world it was made up of developed states, including the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Japan, and countries like Australia and New Zealand. The Second World was made up of the communist bloc led by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and the countries of Eastern Europe.
However, with the demise of the USSR, the term Second World is no longer used to refer to the countries of the post-Soviet space, not even to Russia itself. Even so, the title Third World continues to be used in many academic and political circles around the world.”The expansion of the BRICS shows that the global south seeks to reinforce its strategic autonomy”The very ChinaFor example, despite having developed economically over the last few decades, it is still considered part of the Third World, along with regions such as Latin America, Africa, and most Asian countries. In the media and academia, when discussing whether is the Third World or Global South, it is pointed out that the blame for their underdevelopment is due to the fact that, during a long period of history, their economies were distorted by western powersmaking them dependent on the great European and North American industrialized centers.
Given this, Third World countries were encouraged to play the role of mere exporters of primary products to the developed world, absorbing at the same time these manufactured products with greater added value; This situation would have generated, in turn, little social mobility, traditionalist social and rural structures, in addition to a inadequate distribution of national wealth.
BRICS 11, a strategic shiftCountries like Brazil, Argentina, India and various African states would have assumed, at some point, exactly these characteristics. Now, given that the economies of the underdeveloped countries of Latin America, Asia and Africa were oriented towards the needs of the industrialized countries and, since their political importance was diminished in view of that condition, all these regions are underrepresented in the multilateral institutions of global decision-making. The control of these organizations then ended up in the hands of a small privileged group of countries (the so-called G7), which began to use them for their own benefit. The low voting power of non-Western countries in these institutions is a clear image of the lack of consideration of the central powers towards emerging economies that, during the 2000s, began to advocate for a greater voice and representation within the system. Bolivia and the “important search for strategic allies” in the BRICS
It was then that, in 2009, the BRICS group emergeda heterogeneous political association which sought to confront the unfair nature of the global architecture under Western domination, giving space to Third World countries to defend their interests in the system.
If before, during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, the Third World economies developed slowly, in the 2000s the accelerated growth of several Latin American, African and Asian countries signaled a new global economic reality, a reality that demanded important changes. politicians.
China and India, for example, two nations with very different social and economic systems (but still considered part of the Third World), played a fundamental role in promoting this systemic change, which found its clearest manifestation in the formation and consolidation of the BRICS.Jalife-Rahme: the BRICS meeting was “a tectonic summit” and “the rise of multipolarity”
As a result, the BRICS not only gained greater authority at the international level, but also began to operate in the format BRICS+, with the aim of attracting the cooperation of third countries in the scope of the group meetings. Thus, as other states were invited to discuss the main agenda of the global agenda together with the five original members, the BRICS gradually transformed into a kind of forum for Third World countries.
With increasing urgency, the problems of underdevelopment, the lack of representation in Western-dominated multilateral institutions, as well as the emphasis on multipolarity in international relations, have become the focus of permanent debates within the BRICS. little, over the years discussions have been brewing about the possibility of expanding the group, which culminated in the long-awaited expansion of the BRICS, approved during the last summit in South Africa. The Argentine foreign minister sees possibilities of increasing exports to the join the BRICS
The BRICS thus demonstrated that the unity of the Third World is really possible and that it can be expressed through cooperation in alternative and comprehensive political platforms, facilitating the defense of their interests at the international level.
Certainly, whatever the future development of the group from now on, the so-called Third World (or, for those who prefer it, the Global South) has already clearly demonstrated its discontent with existing power structures.
These structures, dominated by the West, in addition to being radically unfair, are also obsolete, judging by the new global realities of the 21st century. For this reason, in addition to being symbolic, the South African summit represented a true Third World revolt and a BRICS revolution.
The opinions expressed in this article may not coincide with those of the editorial team.
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