Ideas Forum: Africa, the Rise of the Global South, and US-China Rivalry
Deadline Expired on January 26, 2024
The University of the Witwatersrand and the Hannah Arendt Humanities Network will host an Ideas Forum in Johannesburg, South Africa on "Africa, the Rise of the Global South, and US-China Rivalry." The event is being co-organized by the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research (WISER) and the Innovation Foundation for Democracy at the University of the Witwatersrand.The Russian invasion of Ukraine, the outbreak of war in the Middle East and intensifying strategic competition between China and the United States has led to enormous changes in the architecture of the international system. The Global South is simultaneously on the rise–an indispensable part of the global economy, a linchpin in critical supply chains, and vital to the geopolitical balance of power.
This forum will center on examining how nations across the Global South – from India and Brazil to South Africa and Egypt – are recalibrating their political agendas in response to the return of a great power competition between the US, China, and Russia, and the breakdown of the post-Cold War international system.
Despite representing the majority of the world’s population and accounting for an increasing amount of global GDP, Global South nations are often sidelined during critical policy making initiatives spearheaded by their Western counterparts. Moreover, the groundbreaking expansion of BRICS to include six new countries – Iran, Ethiopia, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, and Egypt – stands as a pivotal change that could lead to the restructuring of global trade, the flow of energy investments, and makeup of critical supply chains. Given these realities, leaders in capitals around the world, from Washington and Brussels to Beijing, need to develop a deeper understanding of the concerns and challenges that these nations face and modify their policy objectives accordingly.
The forum will bring together leading academics and policy practitioners to explore these issues and better understand how this powerful bloc of nations will impact the trajectory of world politics in the decades to come. Over several days, scholars and students from around the OSUN network will have the opportunity to engage in rigorous discussions, attend lectures, and participate in break-out sessions with keynote speakers and other students.
Deadline to apply is Friday, January 26
Cross Reference: Application,Opportunities,Hannah Arendt Humanities Network