The Global South

🌍🌎🌏 "Leaders of the global South have long accused Western countries of hypocrisy, and their complaints seem to grow louder by the day." But no one is listening, because the global South has no right to criticise liberal democracies.

"Countries in the global South can shame great powers into changing rules and institutions for the better." That would be true if the global South had the moral authority to shame others, but that is not the case. The global South consists of mostly narco states in South America, and mostly military dictatorships in Africa. None of these countries have the moral authority to shame liberal democracies. In fact in many of these countries their citizens are fleeing by the hundreds of thousands because of the cruelty of the regimes in power - hence the migration crisis. When civilian populations are risking their lives to flee their homelands, the leaders of those countries lose all claims to moral authority. Liberal democracies can not be shamed by narco states or military dictatorships, but we will change institutions and rules for the better because of our commitment to liberal and democratic values. However, we will expect the global South to commit to those same values. We will expect policymakers in the global South to live up to their moral commitments, especially when we confront them with their failure to do so.

Neither Russia or China "bother justifying their actions on the basis of moral values." Which means that they are the alternative the author speaks of and as the author claims they are "far more harmful to weaker countries." Yet, the global South refuses to criticise or shame these two countries, and instead repeatedly makes excuses for them. This only makes the global South hypocrites themselves, and their criticism of Western liberal democracies is empty and meaningless.

xo

Response to: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/upside-western-hypocrisy-global-south-america