scholarly journals Southern middle powers and the liberal international order: The options for Brazil and South Africa

2021 ◽  
pp. 002070202110429
Author(s):  
Charalampos Efstathopoulos
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
International Order ◽  
Coalition Building ◽  
Multilateral Institutions ◽  
Supportive Role ◽  
Foreign Policies ◽  
Middle Powers

The current challenges facing the liberal international order suggest there is greater need for reassessing the roles that different categories of states may perform in support of this order. Middle powers appear as leading candidates for a supportive role to the liberal order due to their historical commitment to internationalism, coalition building with like-minded democracies and activism within multilateral institutions. Such orientation, however, is questionable for Southern middle powers that often appear ambivalent in their foreign policies, restricted in their collaboration with other democracies and selective in their multilateral initiatives. This article discusses the cases of Brazil and South Africa to examine the current options for Southern middle powers and concludes that despite certain limitations, South Africa is, overall, closer to assuming a supportive stance towards the liberal international order and its institutions.

India and the International Order: Accommodation and Adjustment

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deepa M. Ollapally
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
International Order ◽  
Development Bank ◽  
Multilateral Institutions ◽  
Indian Identity ◽  
New Development ◽  
Foreign Policies ◽  
Strategic Autonomy ◽  
Indian Foreign Policy

AbstractIndia is gradually changing its course from decades of inward-looking economics and strong anti-Western foreign policies. It has become more pragmatic, seeing important economic benefits from globalization, and some political benefits of working with the United States to achieve New Delhi's great-power aspirations. Despite these changes, I argue that India's deep-seated anti-colonial nationalism and commitment to strategic autonomy continues to form the core of Indian identity. This makes India's commitment to Western-dominated multilateral institutions and Western norms, such as humanitarian intervention, partial and instrumental. Thus, while Indian foreign-policy discourse shows little sign of seeking to fully challenge the U.S.-led international order beyond largely reformist measures of building parallel institutions such as the New Development Bank, India will continue to strongly resist Western actions that weaken sovereignty norms.

scholarly journals Emerging middle powers and the liberal international order

2021 ◽  
Vol 97 (5) ◽  
pp. 1377-1394
Author(s):  
Umut Aydin
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
International Order ◽  
Humanitarian Assistance ◽  
Market Reforms ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Middle Power ◽  
Foreign Policies ◽  
Political Globalization ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Middle Powers

Abstract In the post-Cold War era, a number of middle powers rose to prominence thanks to domestic reforms and a favourable international environment of economic and political globalization. These countries began to pursue middle power foreign policies, working actively in international organizations, engaging in areas such as conflict mediation, humanitarian assistance and the promotion of human rights, and helping to diffuse democracy and market reforms in their neighbourhoods. In this way, they contributed to the stability and expansion of the liberal international order in the post-Cold War period. Nonetheless, recent democratic and economic backsliding in these middle powers raises concerns. Focusing on the cases of Turkey and Mexico, this article explores how reversals in democratic and market reforms, exacerbated by recent trends towards deglobalization, influence emerging middle powers' foreign policies and their potential contributions to the liberal international order. I argue that whereas their rise had helped reinforce and expand the liberal international order, emerging middle powers' illiberal turn may have a destabilizing effect on this order.

Middle Power Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific: India and Australia at the Forefront

2021 ◽  
pp. 002088172110567
Author(s):  
Shubhamitra Das
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Great Powers ◽  
Coalition Building ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Middle Power ◽  
Multilateral Cooperation ◽  
Conflict And Cooperation ◽  
Western Model ◽  
Middle Powers

Indo-Pacific has emerged as a region of great movement, conflict and cooperation, contestations and coalition-building. The emergence of minilateral and multilateral cooperation by the middle powers is increasing in the region, with the regional countries enthusiastically mapping the region focussing on their centrality. History proves that the role of middle-power countries became more prominent during the moments of international transition. The two contrasting powers like India and Australia; one with a post-colonial identity in foreign policy-making, subtle emphasis on non-aligned movement (NAM) and emerging as an influential power, and, on the other, a traditional middle power with an alliance structure and regionalism akin to the Western model, have equal stakes in the region and it is inevitable for them to take a leadership position in building what is called a middle power communion in the Indo-Pacific. This article will explore the understanding of middle powers and how India and Australia, as middle powers; are strategically placed and, being great powers within their respective regions; take the responsibility of region-building and maintaining peace with great powers, and how the Indo-Pacific and Quad are emerging as discourses within their foreign policy-making.

Regional Middle Powers and the Indo-Pacific Strategic Narrative

2019 ◽  
pp. 110-142
Author(s):  
Timothy Doyle ◽  
Dennis Rumley
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Great Powers ◽  
Pacific Region ◽  
Economic Competition ◽  
Middle Power ◽  
The Us ◽  
Foreign Policies ◽  
Middle Powers ◽  
Policy Interest

In this chapter we argue that, in the Indo-Pacific region since the ‘end’ of the ‘old’ Cold War, there has been a process of political and economic competition among regional great powers for influence over Indo-Pacific core middle powers. One of the essential aims of this process is to create a regional middle power coalition in opposition to either China or the US, one of the elements of the new Cold War. As a result, the foreign policies of US-co-opted states will exhibit a shift in emphasis towards support for the US pivot and an expression of a greater foreign policy interest than heretofore in the Indo-Pacific region, following the US. The result is that an Indo-Pacific self-identification and an ‘Indo-Pacific narrative’ become important components of the foreign policy rhetoric and debate of US-co-opted states.

scholarly journals Illiberalism, geopolitics, and middle power security: Lessons from the Norwegian case

2019 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-102
Author(s):  
Nina Græger
Keyword(s):  
Soft Power ◽  
Great Powers ◽  
Middle Power ◽  
Multilateral Cooperation ◽  
The Us ◽  
Foreign Policies ◽  
Bilateral Cooperation ◽  
Human Rights Norms ◽  
Middle Powers ◽  
Global Solidarity

Middle powers have played a key role in supporting global governance, a rules-based order, and human rights norms. Apart from conveying and effectuating global solidarity and responsibility, multilateral cooperation has been an arena where middle powers seek protection and leverage relatively modest power to greater effect, sometimes as “helpful fixers” to great powers. This article argues that geopolitical revival and the contestation of the liberal order are challenging middle powers' traditional sheltering policies, based on empirical evidence from the Norwegian case. First, the weakening of multilateral organizations is making middle powers more vulnerable to great power rivalry and geopolitics, and Norway's relationship with Russia is particularly pointed. Second, existing shelters such as NATO and bilateral cooperation with the US are negatively affected by the latter's anti-liberal foreign policies, making looser sheltering frameworks important supplements. While Norway's and other middle powers' traditional policies within the “soft power” belt may continue, “doing good” may become less prioritized, due to the need for security.

Searching for Middle Powers

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Neack
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Fundamental Problem ◽  
Global South ◽  
The Self ◽  
Coalition Building ◽  
Middle Power ◽  
International Power ◽  
Post War ◽  
Middle Powers

What is a “middle power,” and what foreign policy is associated with it? Scholars and diplomats in Canada, Australia, and a more or less stable collection of northern countries—and increasingly scholars from the Global South—have proposed that the term denotes a particular international position, rights, and responsibilities. Canada has been especially associated with claims that it deserved unique representation in the halls of international power by virtue of its secondary or middle contributions to World War II and the post-war peace. Middle powers, it was proposed, were countries who both made significant contributions to that global order and were more likely than the self-interested great powers to protect the values of that order. However, the term “middle power” never has had a clear meaning or definition, and the so-called middle powers have largely been self-electing (whether the self-election was by scholars or practitioners). Scholarly efforts to bring more rigor to the concept have failed to agree on its basic definition and membership list. This failure results largely from a fundamental disagreement over whether the “middle power” is defined by its functional capabilities, characterized by its strong moral imperative as a “good international citizen,” designated by its position in the international hierarchy, or revealed in its foreign policy behaviors. In time, the behavioral notion that middle powers engaged in “middle power diplomacy” held sway in the scholarship such that any country that pursued multilateral compromises, engaged in acts of “good international citizenship,” and promoted coalition building was labeled a middle power. This subsequently led to a growing scholarship on which states were “middle powers” based on their foreign policy behaviors. In particular, countries from the Global South who embraced multilateralism were included in the ranks of the middle powers. The inclusion of countries from the Global South created a fundamental problem for the term, since middle power advocates portrayed them as strong supporters of the international order. Southern middle powers, on the other hand, were champions or leaders of states who stood against that order because of historical and present injustices in it. However, even those countries said to be Southern or emerging middle powers seem more interested in establishing their own status within the existing order rather than asserting a common vision on behalf of a revised order. Ultimately, the lack of agreement about what “middle power” means leaves scholars and practitioners uncertain about whether the term is a useful guide for any particular country’s foreign policy.

African Foreign Policies

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
John James Quinn
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Intergovernmental Organizations ◽  
Weak States ◽  
Political Autonomy ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Multilateral Institutions ◽  
Foreign Policies ◽  
Cross National

Studies on African foreign policies, and the process involved with their formation, have received much less attention compared to other aspects of African studies. Most have been in-depth case studies illustrating how foreign policy decisions are centered on common concerns for the region, such as decolonization, nation building, economic and political autonomy, and Cold War competition. As such, most diplomacy is conducted with close neighbors, former colonial powers, or the super powers. Much is also conducted within intergovernmental organizations (IGOs). Interactions with multilateral institutions—the World Bank and IMF—also feature prominently. Most analyses indicate that foreign policy has been in the hands of a president, who has conducted it primarily as a means of consolidating or maintaining domestic rule. African foreign policies also tend to reflect the reality that most are small and weak states. A strand of empirical comparative foreign policy literature on Africa does exist, examining things such as UN voting or level of diplomatic activity. Finally, much literature on African foreign policies is embedded in African international relations and focuses on the choices of leaders within larger historic, material, ideological, and international contexts. Most scholars, but not all, eschew an analysis using a single paradigm: eclectic, historical approaches seem to be more common than either cross-national empirical studies or paradigmatically pristine approaches. With this in mind, African foreign policies must respond to, and evolve with, changing international and regional contexts, especially any with significant shifts in geopolitical power.

scholarly journals The United Nations Security Council Reforms and The Permanent Five Challenge: A Historical Perspective

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aderemi Opeyemi Ade-Ibijola
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Security Council ◽  
Historical Perspective ◽  
United Nations Security Council ◽  
International Peace ◽  
Member States ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Middle Powers

The manner in which the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is presently constituted remains the greatest challenge to the realization of the ambitions of UNSC permanent seat seekers. For the highly infl uential economic giants better known as the “middle powers”- Japan, India, Brazil, and Germany; and African leading contenders such as Nigeria, South-Africa and Egypt ambitions to yield the desired result, they must mandatorily secure the support of the UNSC Permanent fi ve veto holding members. In light of the foregoing, this paper examines the attempts to reform the UNSC since the late 1960s and the roles of the Permanent fi ve members of the UNSC such as Britain, China, France, USA and Russia regarding this endeavour. Specifi cally, it argues that the Permanent fi ve member’s disposition to this issue has been the major challenge to the much desired reform of the UNSC. The UNSC is the main organ of the United Nations (UN) that is vested with powers to maintain international peace and security. Since its creation in mid 1940s, this organ has been criticized for its undemocratic nature by member states whose region are either not represented in the Security Council (SC) or under-represented.  

scholarly journals Rising Powers and Peacebuilding

2021 ◽  
pp. 299-313
Author(s):  
Kai Michael Kenkel
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Global South ◽  
International Order ◽  
Rising Powers ◽  
The Past ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Global Peace ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Rising Power

Over the past two decades, a number of states have risen to take on substantial roles in peacebuilding efforts across the globe. China, Brazil, India, South Africa, and Turkey, among others, have become major players in their regions and beyond. This chapter analyzes how peacebuilding serves as the locus for these states to contest the rules underpinning the international order and to stake their claim to influence. These states have to date worked within the dominant liberal paradigm rather than revamping it; thus they have brought significant improvements in legitimacy and efficacy through their domestic experiences. The chapter identifies the commonalities that Southern rising powers apply to peacebuilding, as well as divergent characteristics that hamper its spread. It provides a definition of this class of states apt for analyzing their peace policies and crystallizes elements of a Southern-based rising-power contribution to global peace. Examples are given of how these states have sought to multilateralize their cooperation and act consistently within the United Nations. The analysis then takes a closer look at the practices of Brazil and India, two major rising powers from the Global South.

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