The Boao Conference for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2024 began in Boao, South China’s Hainan Province, on March 26. The subject of the conference is “Asia and the World: Common Challenges, Shared Responsibilities”. In addition to more than 1,100 journalists from roughly 40 nations and regions, this year’s conference attracts about 2,000 delegates from over 60 countries.
To fulfil their responsibilities of fostering peace and prosperity on a regional and global scale, all countries are encouraged by the 2024 forum to work together to address regional and global issues arising from political mistrust, global power politics, and a lack of communication means. The topics for discussion include science and technology, innovation, climate change, sustainability, and regional stability. At this event, it is of the utmost importance to examine the following issues: growing discourse on the Global South, stagnant growth trajectory and climate change, and the uncertain futures of Asia and the rest of the globe.
Politics of Global South
The “Global South” concept is still developing. Asian regional giants such as China and India have done everything they can to demonstrate their leadership and take the initiative in front of other Global South nations. At the G-20 summit in New Delhi in 2023, India presented the membership of the fifty-five African Union-led nations, which had a $3 trillion GDP and 1.4 billion people together. India’s ability to speak up and be physically represented in one of the most influential forums, the G-20, is demonstrated by this.
The Boao forum conference of this year particularly addresses the growing significance of the Global South, with the goal of strengthening the region’s solidarity and collaboration in areas such as trade, debt, food, supply, science and technology, and other vital sectors. However, there has always been a stake in representing the Global South, particularly since the colonial era. The voices of the non-alignment, the Afro-Asian Conference, and the Chinese and Indians, namely Nehru and Mao, respectively, symbolise the early years of their independence and the issues they were confronting. The stakes are great in the twenty-first century because of their increasing ability and capability to represent them. Leaders from China and India frequently discuss the problems they and the Global South are experiencing at forums, conferences, dialogues, and conversations. The politics of claiming and reclaiming leadership over the Global South will intensify and diversify in the years ahead.
Economic Growth and Sustainability
World leaders are being pushed to shift their growth strategy towards something more long-lasting and sustainable due to the stalled economy, the unpredictability of economic growth, and climate change. The only two significant rising economies in recovery are China and India, and forecasts indicate that these two will have particularly strong economic growth in the years to come. Humanity’s major problems can be resolved since China and India account for 25 per cent of the world’s population and have sizable populations of the impoverished.
The world economy has experienced a sharp slowdown in economic growth and political mistrust since the 2008 financial crisis, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. This is due to the predictions made by renowned political scientist John Mearsheimer in his seminal work, The “Tragedy of Great Power Politics”.
A more uncertain future lies ahead for political stability, economic growth, sustainability, cooperation among global powers, and support for those marginalised in global politics due to the trade war and sanctions between and among major powers like the United States, China, and Russia.
Future Ahead
The future of world politics, the global economy, and cooperation rests on the relationships between and among the global powers, such as the United States and China. The upcoming US general elections will decide the fate of global cooperation and, therefore, the global issues that can not be solved without the US’s cooperation. The US and China represent 45 per cent of the global nominal GDP, which gives general statistics on the world’s economy. In contrast, India, Germany, and Japan represent just 13 per cent of the global GDP. European Union, on the other hand, represents 21 per cent of the global GDP.
Meanwhile, the global political outlook and economic growth trajectories mostly depend on the US general election results. There are polls in the US giving Donald Trump a clear but thin upper hand over Joe Biden in the upcoming November election.
If Trump wins the presidency in November 2024, there are signs that he will overrule many of Biden’s policies, which he criticised. One such policy is the renewable energy sector, in which the top Republican leaders believe that climate change is a ‘hoax’ and, therefore, there is no need to invest in the renewable energy sector. This can harm the global initiative to reduce or get away from fossil fuels and advance the new mechanism to get renewable energy in the future.
Also, the policy of trade war with China will impact the world. During Trump’s previous presidency, the trade war started, and if he came to the Oval Office again, the trade war could deepen with China. In addition to the trade war, the technological war, especially chip wars, is gaining political attraction. Chips are the new battleground for global power politics. All the major powers are attacking the chip companies and introducing tariffs and sanctions to not allow other country-made chips due to national security reasons. These issues are critical and can not be solved by small global powers.
The world’s future mostly depends on the relationships between global powers such as the US, China, and Russia. Other emerging powers, such as India, Germany, and Japan, can give a supportive stance to the great powers where global issues can be discussed and solved. In this direction, the Boao Forum allows Asian countries to communicate and discuss critical issues with regional powers.
In sum, forums such as Boao, G20, and BRICS provide space for the top global players and marginalised to listen to their concerns and critical issues. This year’s theme of the Boao Forum also reflects Asian engagements with the world, the challenges they face, and the calls for shared responsibility. Shared challenges require shared responsibilities, and most of the historical challenges faced by Asians and countries in the southern hemisphere are because of the colonial past and atrocities done by the Global North, especially the colonial powers. Like the New Delhi G20 conference, the Boao Forum also focuses on the challenges faced by the Global South and the countries at the bottom.
The author is a PhD candidate at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. The views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.
