ABSTRACT
The global political economy is in a period of profound restructuring and reordering, exacerbated by the simultaneous rise of the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and decline of the PIIGS of the euro zone (Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain), which have now been joined by Cyprus. Jan Nederveen Pieterse (2012, 2–3) indicates that “twenty-first century globalization is markedly different from twentieth century globalization … New trends in the twenty-first century are the rise of the global South, the growth of South–South relations in trade, energy and politics, and the growing role of emerging societies and sovereign wealth funds.” In early 2013, PricewaterhouseCoopers suggested “China is projected to overtake the US as the largest economy by 2017 in purchasing power parity terms and by 2027 in market exchange rate terms. India should become the third “global economic giant” by 2050, a long way ahead of Brazil, which we expect to move up to 4th place ahead of Japan” (PwC 2013, 1). Hence the focus of the latest Human Development Report by the United Nations Development Programme – the rise of the South (UNDP 2013).
