Realising Justice

In the recent past the Western-dominated global institutional order has come to be challenged by the bloc of rising powers. The question of whether brics has the ability to reshape global governance is an important one and carries significance for the global South, which has been adversely affected by global institutions. Yet the reliance on the capacity, or the will, of rising powers to speak for the global South, or to prioritise the concerns of their own people might be misplaced. Conceivably the only way both global institutions and governments can be compelled to heed the voices of the poorest of the poor is through sustained activism in civil society. In a globalised world, civil society activism has to be global in scope. Civil society might not be the best solution to the problems of the world, but in a disenchanted post-revolutionary world, it is the only option on offer.     

技术民族主义对全球价值链的影响分析——以全球半导体产业为例

目前,由新技术引发的新一轮产业革命正推动全球政治经济权力结构发生重大调整,围绕新技术特别是影响下一代生产方式的关键技术的竞争呈加速态势。在此背景下,技术民族主义作为一种新的地缘政治思潮快速兴起,并与大国传统战略博弈叠加,驱动全球技术主导国美国对中国的战略认知改变和战略行动升级。美国对中国实施的全面技术封锁与技术遏制战略行动,以影响和破坏全球半导体价值链和产业链最为典型,影响了全球重要产业链的正常运转,压制了全球技术链协同,并对未来全球政治经济治理带来更多不确定性风险。     

How irresponsible are rising powers?

Rising powers like Brazil, China and India have recently made significant gains in their capabilities as states. Therefore many IR scholars are claiming that these powers must now contribute more to the provision of global public goods like a clean environment, free trade and human rights. This article will argue that reasonably democratic international political discourses are another global public good whose greater supply is sorely needed and that rising powers are having a positive impact on the creation of such discourses. Thus rising powers are not behaving as irresponsibly as many IR scholars assume.     

Africa's prospects and South Africa's leadership potential in the emerging markets century

This article examines Africa's role in an evolving international system where powerful emerging markets, such as bric, together with established powers are shaping economic trajectories. The specific focus is on South Africa as an aspiring leader on the African continent, and on its potential for becoming an emerging market shaping the global order together with bric and the West. It is unclear whether a changing global economy in which the postcolonial world plays a greater role will result in improved developmental prospects for Africans as African countries gradually reorient themselves from the West to the South, or whether relations with emerging markets will resemble neo-colonial ties with the West. South Africa's structural weakness, stemming from serious domestic problems of a social, political and economic nature, threatens to undermine its standing in Africa and its emerging market status.     

Recasting the Power Politics of Debt: structural power,hegemonic stabilisers and change

The 2007–08 financial crisis exposed and exacerbated the debt pathologies of the West. This paper examines whether the new global debt relations that have been generated by this crisis have transformed global power politics, changing the way in which the global South and the global North interrelate and interact. To do so the paper analyses the G20 advanced and emerging economies, examining a number of key indicators related to debt, indebtedness and financial leverage. This research leads to two main findings. First, the crisis has indeed given rise to new global debt relations. As a result, any reforms in the post-crisis global political economy will take place in an environment that favours the rising powers. Second, the USA maintains its capacity to control the parameters of this new global debt politics and economics, but cannot directly impose the terms of a solution to the existing ‘global/hegemonic imbalances’ on the rising powers.     

Emerging Powers and Africa:A Comparison of Modes of Engagement Pursued by China,India and Brazil

The world has seen a relative power shift from the North to the South.The leading emerging states like China have taken up an increasingly commanding role in global economic affairs in response to the trauma experienced by Western industrialized states.Over the last decade and a half emerging powers have made significant inroads into previously the"bastion"of Western political and economic dominance,resulting in a diversifying external actors involved in African economy with much of this interaction bein...     

"Global Civil Society" and the Political Depoliticization of Global Governance

Activists, officials, and academics alike have often linked observations about an emerging global civil society to an incipient democratization of world politics. Global civil society is assumed to bring public scrutiny and "bottom-up" politics to international decision making "from outside" formal political institutions. Based on an analysis of uses of the concept of global civil society in 1990s global governance discourse (especially related to the major UN world conferences), this paper argues that the presumed democratization of world politics is better understood in terms of a double movement: on the one hand, "global civil society" depoliticizes global governance through the promotion of "human security" and "social development"; on the other hand, the emerging international public sphere (in the UN context) operates as a subsystem of world politics rather than opposing the system from outside. Practices of depoliticization are thus part of the political logic of (neo-)liberal global governance. The argument draws on Luhmann's systems theory and Foucault's analysis of governmentality.     

One in 20: the G20, middle powers and global governance reform

There is a growing consensus that the international system needs to be reformed to reflect the changing distribution of power with the rise of the Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRICs). The Group of Twenty (G20) has been at the centre of these discussions. Within the G20, emphasis has been on great powers or rising powers and their capacity to drive reform. Less attention has been given to the preferences and strategies of middle powers in the G20 and their capacity to shape global governance reform. Drawing on interviews with G20 officials, this paper considers the role of Australia as president of the G20 in 2014. Australia’s presidency presents a unique opportunity to examine the behaviour of a middle power as it balances the competing global governance claims of the USA and the BRICs.     

Policy visions of big data: views from the Global South

Abstract

Government intentions stand at the heart of debates about how big data can and should be used in the Global South. This paper provides new insights by examining the political and economic visions promoted by emerging power governments in Brazil, India and China (the BICs). Doing so is crucial as these countries not only comprise some of the world’s largest populations, but have also demonstrated their initiative in national and international promotion of big data politics. Drawing on a content analysis of strategic and legal documents discussing the use of big data, we identify potential areas for big data cooperation among the BICs by determining the compatibility of national policy visions. Three visions are apparent: data as a force for political liberation or repression, for improving public services and for facilitating development. Successful BIC cooperation is likely related to the latter two, but less probable for the liberation/repression vision. We conclude by identifying the implications of BIC engagement with big data for the Global South more broadly.     

新冠肺炎疫情对现代世界体系的影响 ——兼谈中国在全球治理体系重塑中的新作用

2020年全球暴发的新冠肺炎疫情对现代世界体系中的经济与政治均产生了重大影响,并加速了当今世界百年未有之大变局。自从人类社会进入资本主义阶段,现代世界体系便开始形成,并在百余年前发展成为全球性体系。这一体系内部始终存在着最为基本的两对矛盾——资本主义生产社会化与生产资料私有制之间的矛盾和主权国家与资本主义世界市场之间的矛盾,这两对基本矛盾推动了现代世界体系中的百年未有之大变局。新冠肺炎疫情对现代世界体系中的世界市场经济体系和以主权国家为主体的国际政治体系产生了冲击,加剧了世界经济动能转换以及国际格局和力量对比的深刻变化。在当今世界面临百年未有之大变局的时候,以中国为首的新兴大国在全球治理体系重塑中将发挥新的作用。     

China's Relations with India's Neighbours: From Threat Avoidance to Alternative Development Opportunity

Abstract

China, once seen as a threat by the states of South Asia, is now viewed correctly as an alternative development opportunity. The unprecedented success of the Chinese development model places it as an obvious alternative to that offered by India—or indeed by the Western model of development—but what implications does this have for the middle and small powers that surround India, and indeed for India and the Western developed world? The fundamental rationale for China's relations with South Asia has changed radically, but the Sino-centric nature of Chinese foreign policy remains. Uniquely, for India's neighbours, but also for the global political economy as a whole, Chinese economic power raises political issues of human security, economic interdependence, and the relationship between physical infrastructure and the benefits of global public goods. The Chinese necessity to tranship through South Asia is identified as a complex new reality for the great power.     

Civilisational values and political economy beyond the West: the significance of Korean debates at the time of its economic opening

This paper analyses the prominence of civilisational values in Korean political economy debates in the late 19th and early 20th centuries concerning their country's dramatic opening to the world economy at the time. Korean supporters of economic opening saw this policy change as part of a wider embrace of Western civilisational values, while opponents argued that their country's longstanding economic autarchy upheld traditional Neo-Confucian civilisational values that had been imported from China. For international political economy (IPE) scholars interested in the historical relationship between civilisational values and political economy, the analysis shows how these values shaped understandings of international economic relations outside the West in quite distinctive ways. For IPE scholars interested in the diffusion of ideas, the analysis highlights different dynamics involved in the ‘localisation’ of ideas emanating from dominant powers. More generally, the study of this Korean history also contributes to the building of a more ‘inter-civilisational’ approach to IPE today.     

The G20's role in legitimating global capitalism: beyond crisis diplomacy?

The rising profile of the G20 in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis has led to various forms of concern about the legitimacy of this forum. While debates about the legitimacy of the G20 are important and ongoing, they overlook the important observation that the G20 is also attempting to perform a key role in legitimating global capitalism. This role of legitimating global capitalism emphasises the importance of the G20 to act, and be seen to act, to normalise global capitalism, to strengthen global economic governance, and also facilitate a political consensus with regard to key policy issues. This essay critically examines the role that the G20 plays in legitimating global capitalism and contends that the G20 is not just a technical forum of international policy-making but also a political forum for creating and performing visible responses to problems which are seen to be socially responsive.     

Assessing Aid and Global Governance

This analysis argues for a system of global economic, social and political governance in which development aid is part of wider global redistributive mechanisms to foster social progress and development in the twenty-first century. The study provides two arguments in favour of setting up a new system of global governance, and the role of aid in such a new system. First, since in the current international economic system aid cannot cope with adverse external shocks, a new system of global governance is necessary in order to protect LDCs from the volatility of the international economic system. Second, it is argued that a new system of global governance is needed to improve redistribution at the global level to foster social progress and development.     

Who governs? Religion and order in postcolonial Africa

Abstract

This article explores how mutually productive intersections between religion and governance constitute international political order in sub-Saharan settings. Asking ‘who governs’, I propose religion–governance entanglement as a means of analysing these intersections and rethinking governance, order and religion in Africa. Existing literatures typically characterise the public reliance on religious actors and institutions as being part of a uniquely ‘post-secular’ moment in contemporary world politics or a wider ‘post-Westphalian’ shift in modern governance. Enduring dynamics between postcolonial states and the Global North problematise these framings. In sub-Saharan Africa, religion has a protracted history in postcolonial hybrid governance, overlapping the regional presence of international non-govermental organisations following decolonisation. Using the example of South Sudan, I build on recent analyses of religious-political activities that leave their collective implications under-theorised.     

Turkey and Russia in a shifting global order: cooperation,conflict and asymmetric interdependence in a turbulent region

The current global political economy is characterised by the intensifying economic interaction of BRICS and ‘near BRICS’ economies, with emerging powers increasing their influence in neighbouring regions. The growing partnership between Turkey and Russia constitutes a useful case study for examining this transformation, in which Western supremacy and US hegemony are under increasing challenge. Turkish–Russian relations shed light on broader themes in global political economy. First, significant economic interdependence may be generated among states with different political outlooks, in the form of loose regional integration schemes driven by bilateral relations between key states and supporting private actors or interests. Second, growing economic interdependence may coexist with continued political conflict and geopolitical rivalry, as indicated by the Syrian and Ukrainian crises. An important strategy that emerges is the tendency to compartmentalise economic issues and geopolitical rivalries in order to avoid negative spill-over effects. This facilitates the coexistence of extensive competition with deepening cooperation, as reflected in relations in the field of energy.     

Conservative Christianity,the Global South and the Battle over Sexual Orientation

This article explores conservative Christian contributions to debates over sexual orientation, focusing in particular on the way in which Northern Christians struggling to win their battles at home look to the global South for allies and support. This is made easier by the fact that global Christianity is once more overwhelmingly a Southern religion that generally adheres to traditionalist understandings in the sphere of sexual relations. The article looks at how this has played out at church, state and international levels by examining the conflicts over sexuality within the Anglican Communion, the domestic and international debates about the controversial Ugandan draft law on homosexuality, and discussions about sexual orientation in UN institutions. It concludes by rejecting simplistic suggestions that these are part of a one-way process, in which Northern conservatives use their counterparts in the global South to promote their own agendas.     

Moving Beyond North–South Theatre

The North–South divide is counterproductive to the generation of norms and policies geared toward ensuring human security in a globalising world. Moreover, developing countries productively abandon Southern solidarity when it is in their perceived interests to do so. This article provides an historical overview of the origins of the geographical labels attached to the two main groups of countries and examines how the various constructed roles on the international stage in the global theatre are played by actors from the two major troupes, North and South. It concludes with some encouraging examples of changed stances within the supposedly ironclad categories.     

Resource powers? Minerals,energy and the rise of the BRICS

The rise of new economic powers has seen increasing attention focused on the international role of the BRICS countries. Importantly, a common feature uniting the BRICS is that they are all resource-rich, and many analysts (and some BRICS governments) have argued that natural resources are one of the key factors propelling the rise of the group. This article explores the BRICS’ emerging status as ‘resource powers’, examining how resource wealth underpins their economic development and foreign policy strategies, and thus contributes to their growing influence in international affairs. It is argued that through the use of nationalistic mining and energy policies, the BRICS governments have exploited natural resources for both domestic economic and international diplomatic objectives. However, there are several challenges and emerging risks facing the BRICS’ resource strategies, which mean that resource wealth is making a positive – though inherently limited – contribution to the growing international status of the group.     

International financial governance in hard times: tracing the transformations

This article reviews the tenets of the intellectual consensus on how to organize the international financial system that came to crystallize at the end of the 1990s and the contestation of such a consensus in the aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2007–09. Illustrating the path of ideational transformation from the early 1990s until the present time, the article builds on recent constructivist works in international political economy that take economic ideas held by agents as the principal unit of analysis. In doing so, it brings to the surface both the substantive changes that had taken place in the principles underlying the governance of the international financial system and the dynamics of ideational change. Specifically, the article suggests a shift away from a governance project based on the dispersion of supervisory authority and finds that new policy ideas of regulation and political centralization have all been conceived with negative reference to the past.