Global South: Predicament and Promise

This essay explores possibilities for the establishment of a new global order, in which the Global South may play a central part. It traces the emergence of the concept historically, with special attention to its antecedents in the popular term of the 1960s and 1970s, "Third World." It suggests that white the "Third World" is no longer a viable concept geopolitically or as political project, it may still provide an inspiration for similar projects presently that may render the global South into a force in the reconfiguration of global relations. A number of powerful societies that have reason to align with the global South—China, India, Brazil and South Africa—may be particularly important in forging a global South. The essay examines in some depth the relationship to the Global South of one such society, the People's Republic of China.