Third-world fissures:
Ellner, Steve
THIRD-WORLD FISSURES CAN THE POOR NATIONS CLOSE RANKS? THE one hundred and twenty-two third-world countries which belong to the "Group of 77" adopted a new approach at their conference at...
...The bargaining stance of individual countries, for instance, can be characterized as either "incrementalist" or "maximalist...
...If this is Reagan's strategy, it is certainly feasible enough but it leaves unanswered the question of what policy will be pursued toward the rest of the South...
...However, the Saudis flatly reject the proposal that their surplus petrodollars be channeled into underdeveloped areas through third-world financial institutions rather than via U.S...
...Both moderate and militant South countries reject the bilateral approach which they see as an effort to co-opt some of the NICS and rich Arab states from the South movement...
...One plan would create a fund to stabilize prices of certain raw material and agricultural exports, while another would restructure the international debt of the poorest nations...
...The so-called Newly Industrializing Countries (NICS) headed by Brazil have expressed serious reservations regarding other third-world financial schemes...
...policy-makers in spite of the recent tendency to write off "thirdworldism" as a mere fad which has already run its course...
...In another area of differences, several socialist-oriented nations at the Venezuelan conference advocated prearranged increases in South-South trade without considering that such a set-up is incompatible with an unplanned economy...
...The lesson of OPEC should not be lost on U.S...
...On the other hand, most African delegates, as '' maximalists,'' tend to put forward far-reaching demands and embrace a militant rhetoric which is frowned upon by many South colleagues...
...Likewise the South's call for a New International Economic Order (NIEO) received a hostile reception from the United States and other North countries when it was first proposed in the UN in 1974...
...Fearing a general trend throughout developing areas against repayment of debts, these institutions would be likely to raise their already high interest rates on loans to that part of the world...
...One delegate at the Venezuelan conference expressed the South's cynical view toward Carter by describing his position as "buying time...
...If the OPEC "bomb" of the early 1970s has taught the Western world anything, it is that developing nations with profound differences and internal strains are capable of closing ranks to further their common interests...
...It may be instructive to compare the fortunes of the South bloc, with its internal diversities, with those of OPEC over a period of time...
...In the former case, the nations withhold their more ambitious proposals from the North in order to reach moderate agreements which can be built upon in future negotiations...
...One African delegate at the Venezuelan conference disparaged the Saudi Arabian position, remarking, "Obviously the Saudis are more keen on getting to sit on the board of Chase Manhattan Bank than on helping out the developing nations...
...Under such an arrangement the Saudis could be forced into the unenviable role of international collection agents...
...This effort was designed to consolidate third-world unity for the purpose of rich Arab states can boast that their foreign aid as a percentage of GNP far outstrips that of the developed nations...
...Reagan has criticized global negotiations for encouraging pie-in-the-sky demands and instead favors bilateral agreements and mini-summits like the one he will attend in Cancu'n, Mexico, in October...
...THE one hundred and twenty-two third-world countries which belong to the "Group of 77" adopted a new approach at their conference at Caraballeda, Venezuela in May, in an attempt to break the impasse in the North-South dialogue...
...STEVE ELLNER...
...The oil companies predicted the immediate dissolution of OPEC upon its foundation in 1960...
...The negative attitude of the Reagan administration toward the NIEO reflects John Foster Dulles's belief that neutralism in all forms is inherently anti-U.S...
...Other divisions in the South bloc are not any less pronounced...
...commercial banks, the World Bank, the IMF and the like...
...President Carter initially accepted the NIEO with flowery and idealistic pronouncements, but proved averse to making any important concessions...
...The refusal of these countries to honor debts could chastise NICS like Brazil which borrow heavily from commercial banks...
...Rather than formulate demands to be made against the North, the South nations devoted themselves exclusively to forms of South-South cooperation in such fields as energy, technology, commerce, and financial aid...
...Although by mid-decade the companies recognized OPEC's de facto existence, it was only in the following decade that the organization took on a role of critical importance...
Vol. 108 • August 1981 • No. 15
