Anti-colonialism: Multipolarity is the future

Actually, it is not a particularly new finding that the “West” exploits the so-called Global South and largely ignores its interests. Since decolonization at the beginning of the 1960s, the countries of the hemispheres that were formerly known as the “Third World” have only played a role in politics and the public when there are reports of disasters, armed violence breaks out or raw material and energy suppliers are involved. Increasingly, however, they are showing a new, strengthened political self-confidence, which is expressed not least in diplomacy.

For Africans, Asians and Latin Americans, “the Western double standards,” as revealed in the selective application of international law, “have been a certainty since the war of aggression against Iraq,” say Johannes Plagemann and Henrik Maihack. Before that there was Korea, Vietnam, Lebanon, Libya, Afghanistan… Even if many of those bloody events no longer seem to play a major role in the local media and in German remembrance politics, they are not in the states that are often referred to as developing countries forgotten, nor the colonial and neo-colonial politics of the Europeans.

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Under the heading “The staying power of colonialism,” the authors point out that “infrastructures of exploitation” are not only found in former slave trading centers along the African coasts, but also generally shape the economy on the so-called Black Continent. As an example, the European Union is still making it difficult for raw materials extracted from African soil to be processed locally. African countries are still viewed as cheap suppliers of raw materials. The peoples do not benefit much from the profits from processing their resources. This applies to sought-after raw materials such as coal, bauxite and petroleum as well as agricultural products, including cocoa and coffee. Unfortunately, despite many critical questions about the causes of such grievances, this book does not explain convincingly or in depth enough how this came about and continues to happen again and why billions of euros in development aid from the North to the South – often legitimizing unjust acts – have not yet been provided brought the expected success.

An obvious result of the new self-confidence of politicians in formerly colonized countries is the founding of the Brics confederation. The Indian Foreign Minister summed up the new self-confidence in the following words: “Europe must grow out of the thought pattern that Europe’s problems are the problems of the world, but the problems of the world are not the problems of Europe.” The quote adorns the book cover.

The two political scientists, Africa experts, examine, among other things, the question of what the southern politicians’ own interests and motives are. Why don’t they share the West’s view of the “rest” of the world, such as Russia? The authors show the differences in the perception of international problems in the West and the Global South. Plagemann/Maihack call for the increasingly obvious differences between the north and south to be clearly stated. They complain that the USA and Europe do not seem to recognize this and instead want to hold on to their usual dominance. They explain and justify the deep skepticism towards the West in states of the Global South and emphasize that the acceptance and recognition of socio-economic and political diversity they strive for offers great opportunities for all of humanity. They see multipolarity as a positive sign for the future.

In the many thought-provoking arguments, the author duo relies on original documents and statements from politicians from Asia, Africa and Latin America, recognized scientific works and their own research results. It is not surprising that their focus is on Africa. Despite its scientific seriousness, the book is written in an easy-to-understand manner and should be required reading for students of political science. Furthermore, it is recommended to all readers interested in world politics.

Johannes Plagemann/Henrik Maihack: We are not all of us. The Global South and the Ignorance of the West. C. H. Beck, 243 pages, br., 18 €.

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