As the Global South knows well, the alternative to international rules is not freedom, but rather the undisguised power of the strongest. But these economies are far from powerless: they have significant leverage, although wielding it requires collective positions, shared frameworks, and coordinated strategies.
SANTIAGO—For decades, global power emanated from Europe and the United States. That was certainly my view when I first set foot in the Northern Hemisphere as a graduate student at the University of Cambridge. But managing Chile’s international economic relations under former President Gabriel Boric revealed just how much power the Global South can wield, if it chooses to do so.