The West Is Wary of A Unified Global South. It Shouldn’t Be.

If you like this story, check out my story on climate change adaptation and traditional architecture in the West African Sahel <a href="https://medium.com/p/ac08322c08ff" rel="noopener">here</a>. The recent BRICS summit has garnered widespread attention on the international stage, not the least because this bloc of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa has invited <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/24/analysis-wall-of-brics-the-significance-of-adding-six-new-members#:~:text=here%20to%20search-,'A%20wall%20of%20BRICS'%3A%20The%20significance%20of%20adding%20six,emerging%20economies%20in%20January%202024." rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">six additional members</a> to join. These new members—Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—may join by 1 January 2024, after which BRICS will see its share of the global population and PPP rise to <a href="https://www.statista.com/chart/30684/gdp-of-brics-members/#:~:text=With%20the%20addition%20of%20Iran,measured%20at%20purchasing%20power%20parity." rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">46 percent and 37 percent</a>, respectively. At present, BRICS comprises approximately 41 percent of the world population and 26 percent of world PPP. And yet, its members have only 15 percent of voting rights at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). BRICS expansion should be seen more in this light. While BRICS’ new members are hardly champions of democracy, good governance, and transparency—all except for Argentina are authoritarian states—they should not be seen as stooges of China. Rather, BRICS countries are looking out for their own welfare with an eye to reducing global inequality for their own benefit. And we in the West should welcome this. <a href="https://medium.com/@absurdistan/the-west-is-wary-of-a-unified-global-south-it-shouldnt-be-6d17a80ecd2">Read More</a>