Introduction

The international system has shifted over different phases of the last three decades thanks to several factors, including: the nature and distribution of power, the predominance of economic and technological elements in geopolitical disputes; growing de-westernisation; the decline in the regulatory capacity of the international institutions and organisations; or governance and decision-making difficulties on key issues such as climate change or armed conflict management. And the tensions and polarisation that this generates transcend the struggles among established or aspiring hegemons. Against this backdrop, Issue 139 of Revista CIDOB d’Afers Internacionals zooms in on the impact that one of those new (or not so new) actors, the Global South, a heterogenous and fragmented group, is having on the international system’s agenda, institutions, norms and order. To do so, the nine papers presented here take three approaches: the analytical and methodological context and framework; the regional and geopolitical focus; and thematic perspectives.

Rafael Grasa Hernández, profesor honorario, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; investigador sénior asociado, CIDOB

Paula Ruiz-Camacho, docente-Investigadora, Universidad Externado de Colombia

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