BRICS is not challenging the existing world order. It is seeking a place in the sun for developing countries. It is looking at alternative approaches but there is no desire to seek confrontation with the West.
Chavez’s significance lies in his attempts to liberalise the international monetary system with regard to credit support for poverty alleviation schemes in Latin America outside the ambit of the IMF by setting up the Caracas-based “Bank of the South”, which was lauded by eminent economists like Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz.
Though its goal of securing a permanent seat in the Council during the 2011-12 term was ambitious, the efforts that it put in over the last two years were steered in that direction and have yielded favourable results.
The recent French intervention in Mali comes almost after a year of turmoil in the country. Mali needs to achieve an internal political process which will strengthen the government’s mandate and provide economic security and sustainable development to the country.
There have been several accounts of India's engagement with the United Nations but this book focuses particularly on the idea of One World, something greater than the UN. The need for a potent peace constituency amidst the increasing number of conflict zones with transnational and global impacts bolsters the rationale for an efficient global governing body, One World reified. The book has six chapters with a short prologue and epilogue. Manu Bhagavan presents a fine historical account of India's efforts for One World.
Advantage: How American Innovation Can Overcome the Asian Challenge follows a long line of books that tap into America's preoccupation with retaining its pole position as the repository of cutting edge technology, and the resultant dominance this offers it across the political, economic and military spectrum. These books are a subset within the wider pre-occupation of responding to the rise of the Asian powers, and a shift of the geopolitical centre of gravity from the Euro-Atlantic to the Asian landmass.
The events of the last ten days have once again focussed international attention on the DRC and lent support to voices clamouring for a review of the existing mandate of MONUSCO and the larger process by which these mandates are concretized.
BRICS comes of age at Durban
BRICS is not challenging the existing world order. It is seeking a place in the sun for developing countries. It is looking at alternative approaches but there is no desire to seek confrontation with the West.