What Preceded the Israeli-Gaza War: Timeline of the Emergence of a New World Order from the Global South

Oct. 30—The continuing slaughter in Gaza is increasingly being denounced around the world, while the U.S. and most of Europe are blindly supporting Israel “right or wrong.” People are told they must take sides: if you support Israel, you must support the genocide of the Palestinian people; or, if you support Gaza, you must be a terrorist or a terrorist supporter.

But what was going on in the world in the three previous months? During July, August and September, nearly the entirety of the nations of the Global South, the former colonies of the Western colonialist powers, held a series of meetings which declared, in several different venues, an end to colonialism. It is important to note that these forums were taking place as the much-heralded “counter-offensive” by the Ukraine military forces was being exposed as an almost total failure.

What were these international forums which marked the end of the 600 years of colonialism and neo-colonialism which had dominated world politics:

1. The Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum in St. Petersburg from July 27-28, attended by 49 delegations from nearly all the nations of Africa. The communiqué pledged their joint commitment “to promote stable and just international order based on the universally recognized principles and norms of international law enshrined in the UN Charter.” Agreements were reached to further Russia’s involvement in 30 different energy projects in 16 different countries, including hydropower, gas and oil, and nuclear energy projects. Russia also pledged free grain shipments to several of the poorest African nations.

2. The BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, August 22-24. The five original BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) held their 15th summit, where they declared that six new countries had been invited to join the organization as of January 1, 2024—Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, U.A.E., and Argentina—while 14 other countries had applied for admission. This expansion of the already powerful alliance of major developing nations was promoted as part of the plan to build a “multipolar” world order, to replace the unipolar world order which had degenerated into economic and strategic chaos, putting weight to hitherto subdued voices of the Global South. The new BRICS-11 will include 42% of the world population, 47% of crude oil production, 42% of the world’s population, and 36% of the world GDP. The BRICS bank, the New Development Bank, expanded its borrowing and lending capacity, including in local currencies, as part of the move by the Global South to establish new trade relations which can free them from the domination of the U.S. dollar, which has been “weaponized” through the seizure of the reserve currencies and the imposition of sanctions on dozens of nations.

3. The 43rd Summit of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) in Indonesia from September 4-7. U.S. President Biden skipped the event, while China and India’s leaders played prominent roles. The legacy of the 1955 Bandung Asia-Africa Summit, the first conference of the formerly colonialized nations of Asia and Africa without their former colonial masters, was recalled by many participants.

4. Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia from September 10-13, featured 950 speakers and 7,000 participants from 68 countries. The focus of the annual forum is to encourage foreign investment in the ambitious plans for the development of the vast Russian Far East.

5. G77 Summit in Havana from September 15-16, with 100 delegations including 10 heads of state. The theme was “Challenges to Development: The Role of Science, Technology and Innovation in Development.” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres opened the forum with a call for the creation of a new global financial architecture, saying that institutions like the UN Security Council, the IMF and World Bank reflect a “past era” in which many developing nations were “chained by colonial domination.”

These events characterize the ongoing transformation in the world leading up to the war in Israel and Gaza. The former colonial lords are not pleased, refusing to admit that there is a new multi-polar world emerging from the Global South, driven by the BRICS and especially by Russian and Chinese cooperation with the developing countries, offering real development through the Belt and Road Initiative rather than war and sanctions from Washington and London. They are willing to provoke war, even global war, rather than acknowledge the new reality. The ongoing slaughter in Gaza, which can escalate quickly into regional or global war, is their answer.