Global relations: Is it time for a new global order?

In 2023, Julien Barnes-Dacey, director of the Middle East and North Africa program at the European Council on Foreign Relations, co-wrote an article for Foreign Policy arguing that if the West wants to build out global relations with the so-called global south, it needs to stop moralizing, address its double standards, and make global partnerships based on deal-making and shared interests.

In this episode of the Doha Debates Podcast, Barnes-Dacey and writer, journalist and commentator Steve Clemons use this article as a springboard to discuss the West’s approach to global relations and the relative leverage of other nations at the table. While both agree that a rise in nationalist populism—particularly in the US—complicates developing nations’ ability to forge mutually beneficial partnerships, Barnes-Dacey contends that these nations wield a great deal of might and influence, while Clemons argues that they will be steamrolled by richer nations fueled by self-interest and exploitation.

This episode of the Doha Debates Podcast was hosted by Femi Oke and recorded at the Doha Forum in December 2024.