Moving Beyond North–South Theatre

Abstract

The North–South divide is counterproductive to the generation of norms and policies geared toward ensuring human security in a globalising world. Moreover, developing countries productively abandon Southern solidarity when it is in their perceived interests to do so. This article provides an historical overview of the origins of the geographical labels attached to the two main groups of countries and examines how the various constructed roles on the international stage in the global theatre are played by actors from the two major troupes, North and South. It concludes with some encouraging examples of changed stances within the supposedly ironclad categories.

Notes

1 This essay draws upon Thomas G Weiss, What's Wrong with the United Nations and How to Fix It, Cambridge: Polity Press, 2009. Printed with permission.

2 Conor Cruise O'Brien, United Nations: Sacred Drama, London: Hutchinson & Company, 1968.

3 Jacqueline Ann Braveboy-Wagner, Institutions of the Global South, London: Routledge, 2009.

4 Maggie Black, The No-Nonsense Guide to International Development, Oxford: New Internationalist, 2007, p 16.

5 Richard Wright, The Color Curtain, Jackson, MS: Banner Books, 1956, pp 13–14.

6 Mark T Berger, ‘After the Third World? History, destiny and the fate of Third Worldism’, Third World Quarterly, 25 (1), 2004, p 13. Interested readers may also wish to consult such standard works as R Malley, The Call From Algeria: Third Worldism, Revolution and the Turn to Islam, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1996; and G Lundeestad, East, West, North, South: Major Developments in International Politics Since 1945, New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Older references include R Abdulgani, Bandung Spirit: Moving on the Tide of History, Djakarta: Prapantja, 1964; CP Romulo, The Meaning of Bandung, Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1956; and P Worsley, The Third World, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1964.

7 Georges Balandier & Alfred Sauvy, Le ‘Tiers-Monde’, Sous Développement et Développement, Paris: Presse Universitaire de France, 1961.

8 Joseph S Nye, ‘UNCTAD: poor nations’ pressure group’, in Robert W Cox & Harold K Jacobson (eds), The Anatomy of Influence: Decision Making in International Organizations, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1973, pp 334–370.

9 See Ian Taylor & Karen Smith, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), London: Routledge, 2007; John Toye & Richard Toye, The UN and Global Political Economy: International Trade, Finance, and Development, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2004; Thomas G Weiss, Multilateral Development Diplomacy in UNCTAD: The Lessons of Group Negotiations, 1964–84, London: Macmillan, 1986; Michael Zammit Cutajar (ed), UNCTAD and the South–North Dialogue: The First Twenty Years, London: Pergamon, 1985; Robert L Rothstein, Global Bargaining: UNCTAD and the Quest for a New International Economic Order, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1979; Branislav Gosovic, UNCTAD: Compromise and Conflict, Leiden: Sijthoff, 1972; Diego Cordovez, UNCTAD and Development Diplomacy: From Conference to Strategy, London: Journal of World Trade Law, 1970; and Kamal Hagras, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development: A Case Study in UN Diplomacy, New York: Praeger, 1965.

10 Stephen Lewis, Race against Time, Toronto: Anansi Press, 2005, p 145.

11 This discussion is based on Thomas G Weiss & Barbara Crossette, ‘The United Nations: the post-summit outlook’, in Weiss & Crossette, Great Decisions 2006, New York: Foreign Policy Association, 2006, pp 9–20.

12 MJ Peterson, ‘Using the General Assembly’, in Jane Boulden & Thomas G Weiss (eds), Terrorism and the UN: Before and After September 11, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2004, pp 173–197.

13 High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, A More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility, New York: UN, 2004, para 161.

14 Kofi Annan, In Larger Freedom: Towards Development, Security and Human Rights for All, UN document A/59/2005, 21 March 2005, para 91.

15 2005 World Summit Outcome, UN document A/RES/60/1, 24 October 2005, para 81.

16 Stanley Foundation, Implementation of the UN Global Counterterrorism Strategy, Muscatine, IA: Stanley Foundation, 2007, p 2.

17 In a letter to Russian ambassador Sergey Lavrov, dated 23 October 1997.

18 Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, London: Verso, 1983.

19 Don Hubert, The Landmine Ban: A Case Study in Humanitarian Advocacy, Occasional Paper #42, Providence, RI: Watson Institute, 2000, p xviii. Hubert will examine these cases in greater depth in Human Security, London: Routledge, forthcoming.

20 Richard Price, ‘Reversing the gun sights: transnational civil society targets landmines’, International Organization, 52 (3), 1998, pp 613–644.

21 Germain Katanga, the former chief of staff of the Patriotic Force of Resistance in Ituri (FRPI), the military wing of the Front for National Integration (FNI) militia, was transferred from the DRC to The Hague on 18 October 2007. Thomas Lubanga, former leader of the Union of Congolese Patriots, was transferred to the court on 17 March 2006.

22 See Program in Law and Public Affairs, The Princeton Principles on Universal Jurisdiction, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University, 2001; Council on Foreign Relations, Toward an International Criminal Court?, New York: Council on Foreign Relations, 1999; and Steven R Ratner & James L Bischoff (eds), International War Crimes Trials: Making a Difference?, Austin, TX: University of Texas Law School, 2004.

23 Richard Goldstone, ‘International Criminal Court and Ad Hoc Tribunals’, in Thomas G Weiss & Sam Daws (eds), The Oxford Handbook on the United Nations, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007, pp 463–478. See also Richard Goldstone & Adam Smith, International Judicial Institutions: The Architecture of International Justice at Home and Abroad, London: Routledge, 2008.

24 Fanny Benedetti & John L Washburn, ‘Drafting the International Criminal Court treaty’, Global Governance, 5 (1), 1999, pp 1–38.

25 Teresa Whitfield, Friends Indeed? The United Nations, Groups of Friends, and the Resolution of Conflict, Washington, DC: US Institute of Peace, 2007, pp 9, 2.

26 Stanley Foundation, Implementation of the UN Global Counterterrorism Strategy, p 7.

27 David M Malone & Lotta Hagman, ‘The North–South divide at the United Nations: fading at last?’, Security Dialogue, 33 (4), 2002, pp 410–411.

28 Soo Yeon Kim & Bruce Russett, ‘The new politics of voting alignments in the United Nations General Assembly’, International Organization, 50 (4), 1996, pp 629–652. See also Evan Luard, A History of the United Nations: The Years of Western Domination, London: Macmillan, 1982.