In a Fractured World Order, Where Does the Global South Fit In?
Summary
What This Article Is About
Dilnoza Ubaydullaeva, a lecturer at the Australian National University’s National Security College, examines the rising significance of the global south as the US-led liberal world order fractures. She notes that Finnish President Alexander Stubb has argued the global south will decide the shape of the next world order — a view Ubaydullaeva finds compelling but overly simplistic, given that the global south lacks a clear definition, unified leadership, and a coherent collective agenda.
Through the lens of the ongoing Iran war, the article analyses how countries like India, Pakistan, Indonesia, and China — often grouped under the global south label — are each pursuing independent foreign policies based on strategic autonomy and flexible alignments. Rather than acting as a bloc, these nations are engaging multiple powers simultaneously, suggesting a preference for multipolarity over alignment with either the Western or Eastern blocs.
Key Points
Main Takeaways
The World Order Is Fracturing
Trump’s policies and the Iran war have shattered the post-1945 liberal world order, prompting leaders like Canada’s Mark Carney to call for middle powers to unite.
“Global South” Is Ill-Defined
There is no agreed definition of the global south — it is not purely geographic, and whether large economies like China belong to it remains contested among scholars.
BRICS Fails the Unity Test
The Iran war exposed BRICS’s deep divisions — China and Russia condemned the US-Israeli strikes while India called for de-escalation, revealing the bloc’s strategic incoherence.
Nations Pursue Strategic Autonomy
India, Pakistan, and Indonesia each maintain independent foreign policies, engaging both Western and Eastern blocs simultaneously rather than committing to either side.
Multipolarity Is the Preference
Global south nations prefer a multipolar world — one not dominated by the US or China — and seek greater voice in global governance to address colonial-era injustices.
Influence Growing but Uncertain
The global south’s demographic and economic weight is undeniable, but its fragmented nature means its capacity to decisively shape the next world order remains an open question.
Master Reading Comprehension
Practice with 365 curated articles and 2,400+ questions across 9 RC types.
Article Analysis
Breaking Down the Elements
Main Idea
A Rising but Divided Force
As the US-dominated world order fractures under Trump’s unilateralism and the Iran war, the global south is gaining strategic relevance — but its lack of unified identity, leadership, and coherent foreign policy positions means it is more a collection of individual national interests than a decisive geopolitical bloc capable of reshaping global governance.
Purpose
To Complicate an Oversimplification
Ubaydullaeva writes to interrogate the popular claim — voiced by leaders like Finland’s Alexander Stubb — that the global south will “decide” the next world order. She seeks to introduce intellectual nuance by showing that this grouping is internally fragmented, lacks definitional clarity, and that individual national interests trump collective solidarity, even within institutions like BRICS.
Structure
Contextual → Definitional → Case-Study → Analytical
The article opens with geopolitical context (Trump, Carney, Stubb), then questions the very definition of the “global south”, before applying the concept to the Iran war through country-specific case studies — India, Pakistan, China, Indonesia — and concludes with an analytical observation about multipolarity and flexible alignments as the prevailing strategy.
Tone
Analytical, Cautious & Measured
Ubaydullaeva writes with the restraint of an academic analyst — she challenges prevailing views without being polemical, uses phrases like “too simplistic a view” to signal intellectual disagreement, and grounds assertions in specific examples rather than sweeping claims. The tone is informative and sober, avoiding the triumphalism sometimes found in commentary on the global south’s rise.
Key Terms
Vocabulary from the Article
Click each card to reveal the definition
Build your vocabulary systematically
Each article in our course includes 8-12 vocabulary words with contextual usage.
Tough Words
Challenging Vocabulary
Tap each card to flip and see the definition
Broken apart or severely disrupted — used here to describe a world order that has been violently torn from its prior stable state.
“Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney was one of the first world leaders to speak out about the ‘ruptured’ world order caused by the Trump administration.”
Literally a swinging weight; metaphorically used here to describe the global south’s power to tip the balance between two dominant competing forces.
“The global order is at a crossroads between west and east, with the south being the pendulum that will decide which way the world swings.”
Lack of logical consistency or unified direction — used to describe how BRICS members fail to coordinate a shared strategic response to global crises.
“BRICS members remain divided on many core strategic issues, without a central platform to resolve disputes.”
The statistical study of human populations — here used as shorthand for the global south’s large and growing population, which gives it long-term economic and political power.
“The global south has both demography and economy on its side.”
A group of countries or political parties that have aligned their policies and act together as a unit to achieve shared geopolitical or economic objectives.
“The global south is far from a unified bloc.”
A break or tear in something previously whole — in geopolitics, a sudden, disruptive fracture in established international norms, alliances, or institutions.
“The current rupture in the international system has reinforced the importance of alternative diplomatic spaces and flexible alignments.”
Reading Comprehension
Test Your Understanding
5 questions covering different RC question types
1According to the article, BRICS has successfully presented a unified response to the Iran war.
2Why does the author argue that India is unlikely to accept Chinese global leadership?
3Which sentence best captures the author’s central argument about the global south’s capacity to shape the world order?
4Evaluate each of the following statements based on the article.
Pakistan emerged as a key mediator between the US and Iran during the Iran war.
Australia and New Zealand are classified as part of the global south by the author.
Indonesia signed a defence agreement with Washington while its president also visited Moscow.
Select True or False for all three statements, then click “Check Answers”
5Based on the article, what can be inferred about why global south nations prefer a multipolar world order over one led by either the US or China?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
The article notes there is no agreed definition. The term loosely refers to nations in Africa, Latin America, Asia, and parts of the Middle East — but it is not purely geographic. Countries like Australia and New Zealand are in the southern hemisphere yet belong to the “global north,” while many global south nations sit above the equator. The article also questions whether major economies like China belong to the grouping at all.
The Iran war drew in BRICS members with conflicting interests — China and Russia opposed the US–Israeli strikes, while India called for de-escalation and Pakistan positioned itself as a mediator. This divergence exposed BRICS’s inability to coordinate a shared response, raising serious doubts about whether the global south can act as a unified bloc when a major geopolitical crisis demands collective action from its members.
Strategic autonomy refers to a foreign policy approach where nations deliberately avoid binding alliances in order to preserve freedom of action. India exemplifies this: it is a key US strategic partner while also purchasing Iranian oil and gas and renewing ties with Russia. The article suggests this approach — cooperating selectively with multiple competing powers — is the defining characteristic of how global south nations navigate the current fractured world order.
Readlite provides curated articles with comprehensive analysis including summaries, key points, vocabulary building, and practice questions across 9 different RC question types. Our Ultimate Reading Course offers 365 articles with 2,400+ questions to systematically improve your reading comprehension skills.
This article is rated Intermediate. It uses domain-specific political vocabulary — such as multipolarity, strategic autonomy, and liberal world order — and requires readers to follow abstract geopolitical arguments and draw inferences from country-specific examples. While the sentence structure is accessible, understanding the article fully requires some background knowledge of current international affairs and an ability to evaluate competing claims about global power dynamics.
Dilnoza Ubaydullaeva is a Lecturer at the National Security College at the Australian National University, one of Australia’s leading institutions for strategic and defence policy research. Her expertise in international security and the Indo-Pacific region gives her analysis particular credibility when examining how smaller and middle powers in the global south navigate great-power competition. Her perspective is notable for its intellectual caution — questioning popular narratives rather than reinforcing them.
The Ultimate Reading Course covers 9 RC question types: Multiple Choice, True/False, Multi-Statement T/F, Text Highlight, Fill in the Blanks, Matching, Sequencing, Error Spotting, and Short Answer. This comprehensive coverage prepares you for any reading comprehension format you might encounter.
