In 2003, India, Brazil, and South Africa united behind a new vision for South-South cooperation and global leadership. Through the June 6, 2003, Brasilia Declaration, the three countries launched the India-Brazil-South Africa Dialogue Forum (IBSA). Like many other developing country groups, IBSA advocated a more equitable international economic system and greater influence for its members in multilateral organizations such as the United Nations Security Council.
Yet IBSA also had the potential to play a unique role in global governance reform. As regional economic powers, the three member countries were in a good position to promote South-South trade and cooperation and reduce their dependence on Western economies. As diverse and populous democracies, they embodied for developing countries a powerful alternative vision to both mainstream Western neoliberal models and the model of Chinese-style authoritarian development that was gaining attention at the time.
Twelve years later, to what extent has IBSA lived up to these possibilities? Continue reading here.
Read more:
Why Modi should resuscitate IBSA
IBSA: The Rise of the Global South
Why is there still no IBSA free trade agreement?
Photo attributed to IBSA via Flickr Commons.
