Another Problem for London: the Global South Is Not on Board

Feb. 20, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)—The City of London daily Financial Times raises an issue of great concern to the trans-Atlantic financial Establishment: most of the nations of the developing sector are not on board with their strategic or their economic policies.

The FT yesterday published an article headlined: “Western Pleas over Ukraine Fail To Way African and Latin American Leaders.” They report that at Munich, there was tepid (at best) support for further confrontation with Russia. For example,

“Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira said that the conflict was a ‘very sad situation’ and stressed his government ‘deplored’ invasion.... Vieira added: ‘It’s been one year now. We have to try to build the possibility of a solution. We cannot keep talking only of war.’ ” Namibian Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila also disagreed with further confrontation, stating that Namibia was focused on “resolving the problem, not on shifting blame.”

She added: “The bottom line is that money used to buy weapons would be better used to promote development in Ukraine, in Africa, in Asia, in the EU itself where many people are facing hardships.”

The FT summarized London’s conundrum as follows: “Western officials said bilateral meetings on the conference sidelines revealed a much greater preoccupation with issues such as inflation, debt, higher energy prices and food security than with the war in Ukraine. There was also a lingering resentment, they said, over the west’s disappointing record on sharing coronavirus vaccines and compensation for the damage caused by climate change.”