IBSA: A viable project?
Versión en español. The Dialogue Forum between India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) reflects a changing international system evolving towards a multipolar world order. India, Brazil and South Africa are three emerging powers of the South with increasing international influence playing at the same time significant roles in their respective regions. The three countries hold the status of strategic partner with the European Union.
IBSA was created in September 2003 and constitutes a new type of South-South cooperation based on presidential diplomacy. The main purpose is to promote trilateral cooperation and to gain influence in international multilateral fora through the coordination of positions. On 17 October 2007 the second IBSA Summit between the heads of state of India, Brazil and South Africa was held in Pretoria, South Africa.
Policy coordination within IBSA is based on the need of the three member countries to strengthen multilateralism. There is a notable emphasis on the reform of the United Nations, including the Security Council, and the need to balance the multilateral trade system in the framework of the WTO. According to some experts, IBSA, rather than contesting the existing power structures in the international system is seeking to be an active rule maker of global governance.
Maybe, it is this shared political identity that unites India, Brazil and South Africa most. They are otherwise rather unequal partners.
The IBSA debate can be approached from different angles. On one hand, it is worth asking in which areas of cooperation there have been results until now, and if IBSA has had any impact in multilateral institutions, for example the WTO. Furthermore, the role and the importance of IBSA should be analyzed in the context of the respective foreign policy agendas of its members. In the case of Brazil, for example, there seems to be a certain tension between its regional agenda and its bilateral and international agendas.
When it comes to areas of cooperation, it is worth considering if IBSA could have a common agenda on conflict prevention and peace-building in the near future. Without a doubt, this would strengthen the role of India, Brazil and South Africa as stabilizing powers in their respective regions. But is it necessary that IBSA countries assume a certain degree of regional leadership in order to gain influence on the global level? Or could regional agendas get in the way of their global aspirations?
What comes first in the IBSA initiative: the national interest of its member countries or the common interest to “democratize” the international system? Depending on the answer, IBSA can be considered either more or less than the sum of its parts. Comment on this debate.
- Romy Chevallier, Researcher at the South African Institute of International Affairs, Johannesburg writes about the South African perspective of IBSA. +Más
- Mónica Hirst, Professor at Universidad Torcuato di Tella, Buenos Aires analyzes the implications of IBSA for South-South interregionalism. +Más
- How important is IBSA for India? Varun Sahni, Professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi answers this question and envisages four future scenarios for IBSA. +Más.
- Read the activity brief “IBSA: An international actor and partner for the EU?”, prepared by FRIDE researchers Susanne Gratius and Sarah-Lea John de Sousa based on the expert seminar FRIDE organized in cooperation with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) in Madrid and Brussels in October 2007. +Más