The G20 and Emerging Countries

Abstract

The countries of the Global South are not homogenous; the individual characteristics of each and their relationship with the rest of the world are increasingly varied. The category of “emerging countries” includes countries of systemic importance, and with an interest in actively participating on the stage of global politics and commerce. These emerging countries are grouped, formally or informally with those of the Global South and with other developed countries in “clubs” that aspire to provide the advantages of global governance (such as the G20). These groupings have revealed in recent years the tensions between emerging countries and the others, at the same time as such groups proliferate, reconfigure and promote new international scenarios.