Marginalisation of the majority world

A complex interplay of discrimination, global poverty, inequality and deepening socio-economic divisions, together make for key elements of global insecurity. While overall global wealth has increased, the benefits of this economic growth have not been equally shared. The rich-poor divide is actually growing, with a very heavy concentration of growth in relatively few parts of the world, and poverty getting much worse in many other regions. The ‘majority world’ of Asia, Africa and Latin America feel the strongest effects of marginalisation as a result of global elites, concentrated in North America and Europe, striving to maintain political, cultural, economic and military global dominance.

The Securitisation of Aid?

Saferworld | Saferworld Briefing | March 2011

Issues:Global militarisation, Marginalisation

Poor people want to feel safe just like anyone else. Security and access to justice for poor people are development goals in their own right whether in the midst of endemic violence, such as in parts of Somalia or Afghanistan, or in more stable countries where the police and judicial services may still be inadequate, unfair or abusive. Basic security and the rule of law are also necessary for other areas of development to take root and flourish.

Image source: Demosh

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Posted on 16/03/11

Rushing Carefully in Libya

John Norris | Center for American Progress | March 2011

Issues:Global militarisation, Marginalisation

Executive Director of the Sustainable Security and Peacebuilding Initiative at the Center for American Progress, John Norris discusses the need to consider options carefully to avoid militarising the West's response to the crisis in Libya. He writes that blowing up a runway or imposing a no-fly zone are not silver bullets. And one would hope that after the experience of both Afghanistan and Iraq—and earlier interventions such as Kosovo and Bosnia—we understand that war is a dangerous, uncertain business.

Image source: Quigibo. 

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Posted on 9/03/11

Parag Khanna on Marginalisation, the 'BRICS' and the Arab Revolt

Parag Khanna | Harvard Business Review | February 2011

Issue:Marginalisation

What do Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, and Nigeria all have in common? They are very populous, Muslim-majority countries, all facing constant political unrest and on the brink of collapse. And yet they are also all part of Goldman Sachs’ “Next Eleven,” the much-anticipated extension of its fabled category of “BRICs” — comprised of Brazil, Russia, India, and China.

Image source: messay.com. 

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Posted on 23/02/11

The Arab Uprising and the Implications for Western Policies

Frederick Bowie | openDemocracy | February 2011

Issue:Marginalisation

Writing for openDemocracy, journalist Frederick Bowie analyses the implications for the West of the uprisings across the Arab world. Led by the Egyptians and the Tunisians, the Arab world stands on the brink of inventing forms of democracy and participation that should not only destroy the dominant Orientalist image of the region once and for all, but from which the people of the US and Europe have much to learn, too.

Image source: Steve Rhodes. 

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Posted on 23/02/11

Migration Due to Climate Change Demands Attention

Issues:Climate change, Marginalisation

Governments in Asia and the Pacific need to prepare for a large increase in climate-induced migration in the coming years, says a forthcoming report by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Typhoons, cyclones, floods and drought are forcing more and more people to migrate. In the past year alone, extreme weather in Malaysia, Pakistan, the People's Republic of China, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka has caused temporary or longer term dislocation of millions. This process is set to accelerate in coming decades as climate change leads to more extreme weather.

Article source: Asian Development Bank

Image source: Hamed Saber

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Posted on 14/02/11

China’s drought and global food prices

Issues:Competition over resources, Marginalisation

What a rollercoaster ride the story of global food prices has been this year – and we’re only a month in.

Back in January, when news emerged that food prices had reached a new record high, many analysts were relatively sanguine about the rise. As I noted in a Global Dashboard post on 6 January, the new price spike was largely driven by meat, sugar and vegetable oils, rather than, as in 2008, staples like wheat or rice.

Governments weren’t sliding into panic measures – unlike in 2008, when over 30 of them imposed export bans, forcing prices still higher. And while the 2008 spike was marked by protests in 61 countries (with violent unrest in 23 of them), that didn’t seem to be happening this time around.

How things can change in a month. No sooner had I published that post than Algeria erupted in rioting over high food prices – and while food prices weren’t the cause of recent events seen in Tunisia, Yemen and Egypt, they have certainly formed part of the backdrop.

Read the full article at China Dialogue

Image source: vivianepereiras

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Posted on 11/02/11