The war in Ukraine has revealed a sort of continental drift – in particular, a distancing of the Global South from the North, the latter coinciding in today's geopolitics more or less with the West. Admittedly, there is no unity within the Global South. However, it does not prevent a front of resentment toward Western powers and a rejection of the policy of sanctions and isolation of Russia. There is every reason to believe that the crisis in the Middle East following Hamas's despicable attack on Israel will exacerbate the rift between North and South.
Another major lesson from Russia's aggression against Ukraine is the insidious obsolescence of the taboo on the use of force, which was the very foundation of the United Nations Charter. Cases are multiplying where, contrary to the provisions of the Charter, a government uses force without authorization from the Security Council, as the United States did when it invaded Iraq in 2003.
We are witnessing what French-Lebanese political scientist Ghassan Salamé calls a "deregulation of the use of force." Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria, Turkey's intervention in Syria, China's forceful actions in the South China Sea and even Azerbaijan's attack on Nagorno-Karabakh are all part of the same rationale.
The Hamas attack proves that mass terrorism is by no means under control, contrary to what the defeat of the Islamic State group might have suggested. It confirms that in a world without rules – and without an authority to enforce them – all the so-called frozen conflicts risk erupting at any moment. Is an eruption really in the long-term interest of the Global South? Can we resign ourselves to violations of humanitarian law? In both cases, the answer is no.
Furthermore, are Western leaders aware of the need to re-engage with the Global South, and within it, with the major emerging powers? In fact, they probably are. In 2022, the G7 agreed in Okinawa on measures to help vulnerable countries. Forgetting its initial roadmap against authoritarian regimes, the Biden administration is doing its utmost to draw closer to India and Saudi Arabia. In June, France convened a summit on a new international financial pact. The task of reforming the governance of international financial institutions (World Bank, IMF) to take into account the weight of the Global South is now on the table.
However, these initiatives focus primarily on economic issues or "global challenges" such as development, the green economy, and ocean management. We suggest that the time has come for the Global North, amid the terrible tumult we are experiencing, to propose a dialogue to the South over global security, not least because geopolitical tensions are bound to hamper the governance of global issues.
You have 51.09% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.