The Rise of the Global South

For centuries, the world has been dominated by a West-centric/Eurocentric viewpoint, but the world order appears to be changing.

Shocks that are having a global impact – coronavirus, economic fallout from Ukraine and the deepening climate emergency - have highlighted the inequities at the core of the world economy and the vulnerabilities of lower and middle-income countries to political and ecological crises not of their own making. This is throwing into sharp relief the economic and political shift taking place as the countries of the Global South begin to assert themselves on the global stage.

The Global South is a term for a collection of 77 disparate countries mostly located in the southern hemisphere; most were subject to imperialism and colonial rule. Around 88 per cent of the world’s population lives there and it’s projected that by 2030 China, India and Indonesia will join the US as the world’s four largest economies.

The power of the Global South is growing and challenging the current world order. Countries in the Global South make decisions based on their own priorities. They do not align themselves with any one world power - aligning with the West on some issues and with Russia and China on others. They have no one leader and there is unlikely to be one in the future – although both India and South Africa are positioning themselves in this space.

Our expert panel of speakers examines if it is time for the West to realise that its relationship with the rest of the world has changed and to adapt accordingly. What would a multipolar international system look like? Should we be rethinking relationships that the West has taken for granted? The coming decades may belong to the Global South. Can we afford to ignore it?

Speakers include Rahul Roy-Chaudhury, a Senior Fellow for South and Central Asian Defence, Strategy and Diplomacy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).

This event is part of the Festival Focus ‘’ presented in collaboration with the Morrell Centre for Legal and Political Philosophy. You may also be interested in ‘’ and ‘’ which are taking place the same day.

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Host or Publisher York Festival of Ideas