In the Atacama Desert of Chile, the promise of clean energy for the world comes at a steep cost. Beneath the salt flats that power electric vehicles in the Global North, Indigenous communities struggle with water scarcity and environmental degradation. The imbalance between the consequences for the South and North shows that the pursuit of […]
Tag: Global South
Africa 2.0: The Rise of African Agency in International Politics
The extensive literature on post-independence African development highlights the challenges and opportunities for African agency in international politics. In essence, agency is the ability to influence or exert power on other parties or coalitions. Between the 1950s and 1990s, African states glimmered in global news as victims of corruption, civil wars, frequent regime changes, brutal […]
Africa in G20: New Promises for Inclusive Climate Action?
The recent G20 conference, held in India in early September, took an unexpected turn when the African Union (AU), consisting of 55 nations, received an invitation to join the ranks of the world’s most influential economies. As a result, the G20 transformed into the G21, with 19 member nations alongside two political and economic entities […]
India’s Newfound Leadership Status in the Global South: A Recap of the 2023 G20
Recently, the Group of Twenty major world economies, also known as the G20, met in New Delhi to pursue environmental and social concerns through international economic cooperation. With an ever-growing global economy and the unique international political moment of the Global South looking for a bridge to the West, India could step into that role […]
When Universalism Met Culture
As I read the story of Aasia Bibi, the 17-year-old Pakistani girl who unintentionally poisoned and killed 17 members of her family in her attempt to escape the prospect of an arranged marriage, I wonder how many South Asian women have contemplated the same. As a South Indian woman myself, talk of my marriage is […]
China’s Quest for Soft Power
In order for China to compete with the scale and magnitude of United States’ soft power, it must increase its investment in the renewable energy sector. Although China has made considerable strides in heightening its presence in solar and wind energy in the past decade, it must become the foremost name in clean energy in […]