The Global News Roundup collects news stories from entirely international (non-US) media sources on a wide variety of pressing global political and economic issues and events.
Global news these days is full of examples of waning US power and influence. Especially notable is the rash of countries—mostly low- and middle-income countries that spent the better part of the 20th century closely aligned with (and often subservient to) US policy and interests—that are boldly and publicly snubbing, criticizing, and asserting their independence from the US.
Recent examples from the past few months include: Poland’s refusal to be a conduit for US fighter jets into Ukraine; the refusal of 40 nations to confirm the US-sponsored UN General Assembly resolution condemning Russia’s actions in Ukraine (five nations voted no on the resolution, and 35 countries abstained, including China, India, and Pakistan); the refusal of leaders in Saudi Arabia and the UAE to pick up the phone when US President Biden called them, and Mexican President Lopez Obrador’s recent decision not to attend the 2022 Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles in protest of US exclusion of Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua from the meeting (Guatemala and Bolivia also declined to attend).
And it’s not just a common effort to assert sovereignty and national interests. New strategic alliances are forming, and preexisting alliances are rapidly growing stronger, with China and Russia playing central roles. This week, The Hindu reports the forthcoming expansion of the BRICS group, a group of rising powers that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said, “China will work on BRICS-related parties to continue to have in-depth discussions on BRICS expansion and determine the standards and procedures for that on the basis of consensus. We look forward to more like-minded partners joining the big family of BRICS.” Possible new future members of the group might include Argentina, Egypt, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Nigeria, Senegal and Thailand, representatives of which were invited to the annual BRICS meeting this past May.
Also this week, Ukrainska Pravda reports that Russia is “inventing” a “new G8” that includes Brazil and Iran. Vyacheslav Volodin, head of the Russian Duma, is quoted specifically referencing shifting global power relations and the rise of challengers to US and European dominance, “The economies of the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy, and Canada continue to collapse under the pressure of sanctions against Russia. The breakup of existing economic relations by Washington and its allies has led to the formation of new points of growth in the world.”
In related news, US President Joe Biden confirmed this week that he will be travelling to Saudi Arabia in July to beg for oil, Turkey is playing a major role in negotiating safe passage for exports of blocked Ukrainian grain, and China is banning grouper imports from Taiwan in retaliation for Taiwanese cooperation with the US.
Things I’m keeping my eye on in the coming weeks: growing divisions among European countries and between the US and Europe as commodity (e.g. oil, natural gas) price hyperinflation put pressure on old alliances; continued efforts by China, Russia and their trading partners to work around US-imposed sanctions, and the impact of these workarounds on US dominance, especially the global dominance of the US dollar; and, bilateral commodity trade deals among the BRICS and other middle-income countries (especially for oil, grain, and rare earths like lithium).