The Emerging "Global South": Historical Origins And Realistic Significance

The concept of the "Global South" first appeared in the 1960 s,when the wave of decolonization was sweping the world,and it is generally used to describe former colonies and semi-colonies that are striving for political independence and seeking to change their backward status economically and socially and most of these regions are located in the southern Hemisphere.In the decades that followed,the term was occasionally invoked in policy circles,academia,and even the press,vaguely and informally becoming synonymous with "backward" regions such as Latin America,Asia,and Africa.Since the 21 st century,the "Global South" has regained widespread attention,and the growth of its frequency has shown an alarming trend.To this day,however,the "Global South" remains at a level based on a tacit pragmatic understanding of the name,and is taken for granted as a concept,appearing in most literature as an alternative to terms such as "Third world","developing countries","non-Western world" and "marginal regions".On the one hand,the change of The Times,the change of the world and the change of history has reflected the general consciousness of social consciousness;on the other hand,it also reflects the vitality of the old interpretative system influenced by the thinking tradition of Eurocentrism.It has suppressed the enormous potential academic and strategic value that the "Global South" may provide for the interpretation of hundredyear changes.It should also be noted that in recent years,the academic community has been increasingly aware of the importance of the potential value of the "Global South",and has been trying to historically understand the emerging "Global South" and its structural and historical impact on the world in an increasingly broad and in-depth discussion.And try to conceptualize and abstractly understand and construct the "Global South," which is no longer simply a concept related to geography and level of development.Rather,it is an observation of an emerging international economic and political force that is constantly concerned with such complex factors as the history of colonization and decolonization,the history of the Cold War,the democratic wave and the clash of civilizations,the geopolitical game,and the role of economic globalization and the world system.The process of colonization and decolonization is the historical context in which the emerging picture of the "Global South" unfolds.The Western world established colonies around the world through such activities as trade,war and exploration,cruel colonial plunder,great power game in the process of dividing the world,construction of global capitalist division of labor system,and impact and spread of civilization concepts and standards,etc.,made the non-Western world become the "South" in the sense of "global".At the same time,the colonization process brought multiple dimensions of "modernity" to the development path of the non-Western world,and its interdependence with the non-Western world in terms of geography,development and security established through the capitalist world market made it possible for the "Global South" to become a force to be ignored on the world stage.Therefore,an in-depth discussion of the role played by the "Global South" in the emergence of world history and the current century of unchanged changes cannot be separated from a systematic review of the history of colonization and decolonization since the great geographical discovery.This study will examine the historical process of colonization and decolonization in three periods:The first historical period was from the early maritime expansion of the geographical discovery to the outbreak of the First World War in 1914.During this period,countries such as Spain,Portugal,the Netherlands,Britain and France emerged as "national empires".These "national empires" took the nation state as the core,the huge colonial system as the extension,and the primitive capital accumulation,industrialization and European wars as the driving force for expansion.With the change of identity brought about by colonial expansion,"standards of civilization" were fabricated in the process of European colonial expansion in the 19 th century and became a new basis for the legitimacy of colonial plunder,which was highlighted by the fact that after the Westphalian European countries gradually replaced the chartered companies as the main body of colonial expansion,These European masters also put the "corset" of Westphalia on their colonies.By the end of this period,the vast majority of the world had been incorporated into the European colonial system,and in the two-way interaction between colonizers and colonized countries and master countries and colonies,in the discipline and anti-discipline of "civilized standards",the complex modern narrative of the course of world history was constantly constructed,becoming the beginning of the "Global South".The second historical period is the interwar period,when colonization and decolonization were interwoven across the globe.Far from stopping the partition of the world,the "Wilson moment" was forced to retreat under the powerful force of the colonial system,and the mandate system known as "international annexation" was invented and became a new form of colonization.However,the colonial rule of various empires encountered unprecedented severe challenges due to the spreading of the concept of national self-determination and the magnification of the limitations of the violent and extensive part of the imperial governance products,which was embodied in the organizational and large-scale development of the decolonization movement,and the resistance of colonies and semi-colonies became increasingly fierce one after another.On the other hand,the arrangement of the post-World War I international order by Western powers caused the disintegration of the old empire,and also laid the groundwork for the brewing and emergence of the new empire.The influence and discourse power of Germany,Italy and Japan,which were dissatisfied with the arrangement of the post-war world order,rose rapidly in the two decades of brief peace,and eventually evolved into a challenge to the world order.Became an important factor in the post-war decolonization wave and the emergence of the "Global South".The third historical period begins with World War II and continues to the present day.World War II accelerated the disintegration of the world’s colonial system,creating a historical opportunity for the "Global South" to achieve road self-determination,self-awareness of identity,development of autonomy and cultural self-esteem.The gradually "awakened" colonies from the "Global South" demanded a commitment to "national" autonomy as a condition of war support,and considered the prospect of decolonization in the context of international cooperation among the Allies.After the end of the Second World War,the vast colonies and semi-colonies set off a wave of selfdetermination and independence.Among them,the post-war international order based on the United Nations completely denied the legitimacy of colonial expansion,the European colonial empire gradually gave up its last imperial efforts under the vision of the United States to build a liberal international order,the world communist movement and the anti-imperialist movement of socialist countries,etc.,became the common factors that promoted these countries and regions to get rid of the fate of colonization.And creating opportunities for the emergence of a "Global South."Even though the main actor of international relations today,the state,shows a certain homogeneity under the "Westphalian corset",the diversity and fluidity of the form and destiny of the "Global South" shaped by the complex legacy of the historical process of colonization and decolonization cannot be ignored,which makes it necessary to conduct a typology study of the "Global South" countries.From the perspective of historicity,diversity,and mobility that this study concerns,the countries of the "Global South" can be broadly divided into three categories: ancient civilizations,"reinvented states" that have been reborn from the reinvention of large empires,"elevated states" that have emerged from the periphery of empires to become important regional and international actors,and "created states" that have been created in the process of colonization and decolonization.The different types of countries in the "Global South" determine the differences of the "Global South" in national construction,modernization path selection,identity cognition and strategic concept in the international community,which in turn leads to further differentiation of the "Global South" : Some of the "re-created countries" rely on the long history and traditional resources and the appropriate modernization development strategy to achieve the rise of comprehensive national strength,become an important force in the region and even the world,and begin to build a revival vision of the past prosperity.Others,for various reasons,fell into turmoil and division,seeking to rebuild and develop on the remnants of the empire."Upgraded countries" often rely on their endowments in resources and geographical location to achieve the improvement of national strength and regional influence,but they have to face many uncertainties such as external security threats,weak anti-risk ability of internal development and difficulties in constructing national identity.The "created countries" showed a more differentiated fate,with Singapore and South Korea as the typical group through "free riding",export-oriented development model to achieve economic take-off,into the club of developed countries;Some African countries,for example,have not yet established a stable and sustainable modern state system in the true sense.Ethnic conflicts,rebel politics,terrorism,hunger,natural disasters,public health disasters and other fields have long relied on the international community for relief.At the same time,these diverse countries of the "Global South" are trying to find consensus and cooperation because of the existence of many common destinies in history and reality.In the era of the Cold War ideological confrontation and decolonization process in the last century,the Asian-African Conference was held.The launch of the Non-Aligned Movement and the founding of the Group of 77 became prominent manifestations of the sense of a community of common destiny for the countries of the "Global South",and even then,the observation of these countries was still difficult to escape the "Third World" narrative in the context of the Cold War.After the end of the Cold War,especially since the 21 st century,the trend of "emerging" in the Global South has become more and more obvious.This "emergence" is not only a description of the initiative of the "Global South" countries to enhance their influence and discourse power on the international stage,but also contains the meaning of the increasingly important resource endowment,development trend and internal and external difficulties of the "Global South" among the factors affecting international relations,especially the game of great powers.The emergence of the "Global South" is both a consequence of the changes in the post-Cold War world order and shares with it a number of factors,including: The division of industrial and value chains brought about by globalization after the Cold War has resulted in the dissolution of the "center-periphery" structure;the importance of non-traditional security issues such as migration,poverty,environment and transnational crime has increased;and the "democratic wave" mixed with the global political awakening and the expansion of new civilized standards under the "end of history" has intensified the geopolitical turmoil.Scientific and technological progress,especially the revolutionary changes in production,life and social ecology brought about by the digital and Internet era,etc.The overall characteristics of these factors make the "emerging" face more clearly displayed: On the one hand,whether it is the "West/non-West" division under the influence of Eurocentrism context or the "three worlds" division under the Cold War narrative,it is difficult to describe the rise of the "Global South" as a force to be ignored after the Cold War and the complexity,diversity and mobility behind it.On the other hand,"emergence" presents a two-sided feature,the achievements and potential of the "Global South",its difficulties and challenges,become two key factors affecting the rise and fall of great powers,the evolution of the international order and the future and destiny of mankind.From the perspective of the "Global South" itself,the historical memory of the colonial and decolonization era,the "emerging" status quo and the uncertainty of the future have jointly affected the mentality and choices of many "Global South" countries as actors in international relations.Today,many countries in the "Global South" try to avoid taking sides among major powers,and even try to double bet and profit from great power politics,seeking to maximize their own interests.At the same time,through a series of multilateral mechanisms,they are trying to explore the possibility of getting rid of the dilemma of collective action,and strengthen the identity of the "Global South".To match the ubiquitous global networks that the "Global South" has built beyond the high political levels.A series of practices of the emerging "Global South" are profoundly changing its own destiny,and may even be rewriting the logic and law of the rise and fall of great powers and the evolution of the international order.Behind the emergence of the "Global South" is a historic change in the international strategic landscape.In the context of the strong political return of the world’s major powers,the historical,structural and forward-looking research on the "Global South" is not only necessary for the construction of the critical narrative theory consciousness and road consciousness of Eurocentrism,but also has great academic value and practical significance for the in-depth interpretation of the "changes unseen in centuries".