An emerging new world order

Col Ajay K Raina
In the globalised world that stands shrunk thanks to an unprecedented speed of information travel, many terms and cliches originating in one corner of the globe become part of the everyday discourse in a matter of few days, if not hours. Two such terms, Global South and Climate Injustice, though not new, have suddenly caught the attention of observers, commentators and scholars. Let us try and understand what these terms mean and how these impact a large chunk of the world’s populace.
GLOBAL SOUTH
In “Global South” (2017; Oxford Bibliographies in Literary and Critical Theory), Anne Garland Mahler puts forth a very elaborate definition of the Global South. As per her, the Global South as a critical concept has three primary definitions. First, it has traditionally been used within intergovernmental development organisations–primarily those that originated in the Non-Aligned Movement­–to refer to economically disadvantaged nation-states and as a post-cold war alternative to the Third World.
In this second definition, the Global South captures a deterritorialised geography of capitalism’s externalities and means to account for subjugated peoples within the borders of wealthier countries, such that there are economic Souths in the geographic North and Norths in the geographic South. Through this deterritorial conceptualisation, a third meaning is attributed to the Global South, which refers to the resistant imaginary of a transnational political subject resulting from a shared experience of subjugation under contemporary global capitalism.
In a nutshell, the term, Global South, is employed in a transnational sense to address spaces and peoples negatively impacted by contemporary capitalist globalisation. The moniker global is used to derange the South from the geography.
No wonder then that India is the leading voice on the issue. Repeated usage of this term by our Prime Minister, External Affairs Minister, Envoys to the United Nations etc, on global platforms, indicates that the time has come to call a spade a spade. Many injustices that one tends to relate to the dark era of colonisation continue to exist in different forms even today. This particular term is the manifestation of the frustration running through the minds of those deprived and exploited by the rich and privileged. This is a collective feeling as a nation or a group of nations and transcends national and international geographies.
CLIMATE JUSTICE
As per the United Nations, the impacts of climate change will not be borne equally or fairly between rich and poor. Climate Justice, thus, is a concept that recognises that the effects of climate change are not felt equally. Before we dwell further, it may be worthwhile to take a look at another related term Environmental Justice. The United States Environmental Protection Agency describes environmental justice as the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of race, colour, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.
In essence, therefore, environmental justice and climate justice are two sides of the same coin. While climate justice aims for parity about the impacts of climate change, environmental justice works towards fairness in how communities and lawmakers respond to climate change. Despite these concepts, the sad fact remains that while the rich and developed countries are responsible for the bulk of greenhouse gas emissions, the worst sufferers of the impact happen to be poor, undeveloped countries that form part of the Global South. A short search on the internet will reveal how the biggest culprit, China, points at ‘per capita emission figures, thus, (mis-)using its population numbers to stand behind other countries like Saudi Arabia when it comes to the list of the leading perpetrators.
During the recently concluded UN annual session, Pakistan, which is reeling under unprecedented floods, was very vocal about Climate Justice/Injustice. Similar is the story across the Global South, where many nations with no audience to speak to continue to suffer in silence. It is another issue, though, that such countries suffer more than the others because of their inability to take meaningful action in time. A case in point is Pakistan. While the floods have been heavier than ever before, the fact remains that Pakistan, marred by corruption and misrule, has never tried to construct dams and such infrastructure that could have helped mitigate the ongoing crisis.
EMERGING NEW WORLD ORDER
Traditionally, world order refers to a chosen array of power and authority associated with realising such values as peace, economic growth, equity and sustainability. Cambridge Dictionary defines the New World Order as a political situation in which the countries of the world are no longer divided because of their support for either of the superpowers and instead work together to solve global problems.
Therefore, in layman’s language, the emergence of a new world order refers to the phenomenon of power equations undergoing change across the globe because of various factors. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, we have lived in a unipolar world. Call it mismanagement of international affairs or a wilful effort to keep the pot boiling, the USA didn’t accept Russia’s offer to ensure lasting world peace by aligning Russian interests with those of the USA in particular and NATO in general. Instead, the USA chose to pamper China. And then, one fine September morning, the twin towers were hit, and the world was never the same again. As the USA put its energy and dollars fighting in far lands, China quietly kept on rising, and before the USA could get a grip, it was sucked into a trade war with China. Ukraine war, irrespective of its origin, is rightfully seen as an effort of the West to target China through Russia. Economic sanctions were imposed, and while the results have been contrary to what was expected, the buildings continue to fall in Ukraine even today.
Traditionally, a nation’s power is dictated by its economy and military might. The US, under the present leadership, is seen by many as a state past its peak. China is seeing a huge fall in its fortunes thanks to its real estate crash, an ill-conceived debt policy and the crisis in the banking sector. Russia, in all its probability, is likely to emerge as a much-weakened power after the ongoing conflict. Europe, on the whole, is staring at a recession as the energy crisis looms. The downturn is also threatening the US mainland. Despite many doomsday predictions and some unethical journalistic coverage, India has come out of Covid as the global pharmacy. Unlike any other major world economy, we continue to grow at a healthy pace.
It is unwise to write off any power so soon, and yet the fact remains that international affairs are undergoing a churning that has not been witnessed since the end of WW 2. Whether India continues to rise or other powers keep going south is hazardous to guess. But the fact remains that in another decade, we may see a power structure centred around a power from Global South-a power that speaks for the deprived and fights for the climatic justice. Such alignments may not be dictated solely by economic or military dimensions but by compassion and a deep civilisational tradition that sees the whole world as one big family.
Will India fit the bill? We will only know in the years to follow.
(The author is a military historian and a Founder Trustee of the Military History Research Foundation, India)

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