"most reviews by Western critics are predictably snarky. No such thing as the "so-called" Global South, they insist. It's just a disparate, squabbling group of states, with nothing to bind them together, no coherent stance, and no long-term future." 1/6
"But I'd advise a tad more circumspection after years spent reporting for the Hong Kong-based Far Eastern Economic Review as well as through countless trips, interviews &.. honest interactions with policymakers, reporters, researchers & friends in Asia, Africa, & the Middle East"
"The critics are right: the Global South, the G20, the BRICS, the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) and other organisations are diverse and heterogeneous, their members are often in competition with each other and their goals and aspirations starkly different." 3/6
"Yet, there is a glue and a commonality that bind. These connections can be subtle, invisible, nebulous, and (largely) imperceptible to the Eurocentric-West-centric gaze. But if you know, you know. Partly, the driver is lingering post-colonial anger, frustration, & resentment.."
"— a deep wound left by years of exploitation, extraction, and endless unkept promises on crucial issues including vaccine equity, debt relief, & climate change. Partly, it's realpolitik and that old game of "hedging" by countries who have no interest in getting caught up.." 5/6
"in new Cold Wars or unbridled US-China competition. Mostly, it is about protecting national (or regional) interests by avoiding any unnecessary entanglements in other peoples' problems." 6/6
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