WHY GLOBAL SOUTH'S NEW BLOCS MATTER

From Shanghai to Brics, emerging alliances are redrawing the world order and promoting multipolarity

- BY SHAMA AHMED ALQUTBAH | Special to Gulf News

The blocs and alliances of the Global South are gaining attention, as they may redraw international balances and create a strategic space that reflects multipolarity after decades of Western dominance over the international system.

This would be achieved through proposing reforms to the existing system, making it more equitable and just, at a time when the world is facing complex economic, social, environmental, and geopolitical crises. A look at the map of international alliances shows the rise of powers from the Global South that transcend historical, geographical, and demographic differences, cooperating within the framework of mutual interests.

At the Shanghai Summit 2025 in Tianjin, the Global South's messages to the West became clear — rejecting unilateral will over the world and expressing a desire to build a new equation in the international system. These messages came from major powers such as China and Russia, alongside India, Iran, and Pakistan, calling for a balanced international partnership. The harmony between Moscow and Beijing stood out as a result of intersecting interests, particularly after the Ukraine war. At the Shanghai Summit, the Global South did not merely offer criticism or place blame on the West for the global state of instability; rather, it pledged to build a system based on "justice and multipolarity" as a roadmap for a long-term strategic project.

Challenging Western dominance

In recent years, Western influence has overlapped with the rise of new blocs on the international stage, largely centred in the Global South and predominantly Asian in character.