Written by Bhavyl Bansal
Jindal Global Law School,
O.P. Jindal Global University,
Haryana, India
Email: 21jgls-bbansal@jgu.edu.in
Poverty, illiteracy, lack of access to basic healthcare and educational opportunities, gendered violence, ethnic clashes, and military coups; the Global South is the epicentre of humanitarian unrest in the world. Asia, Africa, and Latin America regions are the most impoverished globally. Most of this impediment to prosperity can be traced back to internal and external conflicts.
Although the principle of sovereignty forms the cornerstone of modern international law, former colonial powers continue to exhibit direct and indirect influence in the politics and economy of the Global South. This economic and political manipulation and exploitation by the Global North has been legitimatised in an arcane manner by international organisations. A prominent example of this is the veto power exercised by P5 members of the UNSC that can pass resolutions pertaining to Global South countries without their direct involvement. These international organisations dominated by the Global North dictate the current notions of development. (Freeman, 2018). An instance of this paradigm is the direct US involvement and funding to the Mujahedeen to further their agenda, and the subsequent intervention against the Taliban, which left Afghanistan in shambles. (Centre for Preventive Action, 2023).
Conflict and development are intertwined. The conflicts and the abhorrent living conditions that follow them are due to an amalgamation of factors. The Global North frequently engages in proxy wars against each other in conflict-prone areas that further exacerbate the situation. This has been observed in civil wars in Syria, Yemen, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cuba, etc. (Jung-Yeop, 2017). Whilst this caters to their geo-political interests, it has a direct economic gain as most arms suppliers are the powerful Western states. (Wisotzki, 2018)
To further understand the trajectory of conflicts, comprehending the infamous colonial past is imperative. For instance, the differences in ethnic identities that have led to unrest in Africa were initiated and strengthened by colonial administrators who had little existence in pre-colonial Africa. (Ranger, 1983). Furthermore, this ethnic insecurity is incessantly exploited to arouse violence, this approach was embraced by Nazis in Germany, and currently, terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS deploy it to emphasise Muslim consciousness. (Alexander et al, 2002)
Moreover, understanding the notion of ‘development’ is a Eurocentric imposition on developing states. The Global South has been plundered of its wealth during the colonist project for centuries. Financial institutions have weaponised aid to further capitalist agendas and a liberal democracy model compatible with Western ideas. (Krasner 1981). More importantly, if other states don’t comply with such models, intervention is justified on humanitarian grounds. Ironically, the direct and indirect intervention done to safeguard democracy and human rights pave the way for complete turmoil and loss of human dignity. This has been the unfortunate reality of many turbulent states.
Furthermore, conflicts due to climate change and the race for resources, such as diamonds in Angola and Sierra Leone, are on the rise. Global issues disproportionately affect the countries constituting the Global South. A pivotal factor behind internal conflict is the stark inequality of wealth that remains more prominent there. The dominant narrative remains that the grave conundrums the countries in the Global South suffer from are due to the political instability and the ‘undemocratic and uncivilised patterns’ surrounding their polity. However, this is an erroneous understanding of the matter. While there are internal lacunas that require cognisance, the formalisation of external forces and neo-colonization continues to tarnish the future of the weaker states in the current world older.
References
Freeman, Dena (2018) The Global South at the UN: using international politics to re-vision the global. The Global South. ISSN 1932-8648.
Centre for Preventive Action (2023). Instability in Afghanistan. Global Conflict Tracker.
Woo, Jung-Yeop (2017). Foreign Intervention in Civil Wars. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Wisotzki, S. (2018). Violating the Arms Trade Treaty: Arms Exports to Saudi Arabia and the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen. Peace Research Institute Frankfurt.
Ranger T (1983) The invention of tradition in colonial Africa. In: Hobsbawm E, Ranger T, editors. The invention of tradition. Cambridge: Canto.
Alexander J, McGregor J, Ranger T. (2002) Ethnicity and the politics of conflict: the case of Matabeleland. In: Nafziger EW, Stewart F, Vayrynen R, editors. War, hunger, and displacement: the origin of humanitarian emergencies.
Krasner, S. D. (1981). Transforming International Regimes: What the Third World Wants and Why. International Studies Quarterly, 25(1), 119–148.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author (s). They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Jindal Centre for the Global South or its members.
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