2023-12-13 07:30:07
Lhe Israeli-Palestinian conflict is exacerbating the schism, a sort of “clash of civilizations”, which is developing between a praised global South and a reviled West. We must of course take into account this Third World substitute which is organizing itself at a rapid pace but which must not humiliate us.
There is no Global South, as it is divided by the rivalry between China and India; but it’s a groundswell. BRICS [Brésil, Russie, Inde, Chine, Afrique du Sud] have little in common. They disagree on the war in Ukraine and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And this global South which feeds on anti-Americanism has just taken a very hard blow with the victory of Javier Milei, this « trumps » wants « dollariser » Argentina.
However, following the “third world” conceptualized by Alfred Sauvy in 1952 – “this third world ignored, exploited, despised, like the third estate” following decolonization – the global South, despite its divisions, encompasses the globe from Brazil to China. The Third World was a static notion, the Global South is in continuous and even accelerated development; it is in the process of structuring the international order and requires new governance.
Relentless mechanics
Our pleas for repentance are of no use: we are guilty of the revolt, resentment and misery of part of the world; guilty of our bitter-tasting colonization, of our fictitious decolonization, of the overly active “Françafrique”, of the essential but humiliating CFA franc, of our excessive exploitation of land and raw materials; guilty of climate change which will cost the South dearly; obscene interest rates due to our inflation; guilty of the derisory influence of these countries at the UN, the World Bank and the IMF, on whose council they have just been granted a new seat like a pittance. We are not the only ones to blame, the South is too: China unscrupulously exploits the natural wealth of Africa (in the Democratic Republic of Congo in particular), and in Latin America, in exchange for leonine financing; it is responsible for 30% of carbon emissions worldwide.
While the barbaric carnage of October 7 tragically tested Israel, provoking its self-defense, the West – while expressing its fear in the face of such a tragedy – should have quickly adopted a more balanced attitude to avoid falling into the trap of hatred and appear associated with these strikes, also inhumane, on Gaza. We should have called for a ceasefire more quickly, especially since, as the historian Elie Barnavi well summarized, « the Hamas attack results from the conjunction of a fanatical Islamist organization and an imbecilic Israeli policy » (The worldOctober 9).
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