Can we always talk about a North-South divide?

In 2032, the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), traditional South’s representants, will overpass the Gross Domestic Product of the ODCE’s countries, historical North’s representants. It highlights the rise of a part of the South, which is reaching the development of western countries, and thus the diversity of the Third-world’s evolution since 1980. Hence, did the surge of emergent countries undermine the North-South division? The North-south divide has existed and structured the international relationships, likewise the Cold War. This division has been caused by the development of western countries (Europe, North America and Japan) during the two industrial revolutions (XIX century) and the XX century (especially mechanisation, since 1945 in France); this development prompted high growth, prosperity and a technological advance, especially used by these countries to spread and dominate worldwide. On the contrary, southern countries remain little developed and influenced by western states, even after the decolonization. Moreover, this divide structured the international relationships, alongside the Cold War. Refusing this confrontation between two uniform blocks, a part of the third-world decided to avoid alignment to one of the superpowers. In particular, these countries founded the Bandung Conference of 1965. This trend influenced also the United Nations, wherein the Commission of Cooperation and economic development (CNUCED) struggled for a better share of economic growth. Nevertheless, this division is undermined by the rising emergent countries and the current diversity of southern states. The BRICS’s surge has implied a rift between southern countries, while BRICS can now compete with developed countries in the economic or military fields. For instance, Chinese GDP will overpass the American one in 2027, while Chinese army is rising: 2 million soldiers, increasing budget, quick modernisation. On the other hand, several countries, especially in middle west and Africa remain very poor and undeveloped, victims of instability and political violence. For instance, terrorism is spreading in Africa, reaching Mozambique, while Afghanistan is collapsing since the return of the Taliban (90 percent of the population is lacking food). In a nutshell, if the North-South divide structured the international relationships, alongside the blocs’ confrontation, the rise of emergent countries nowadays undermines this division. Replacing this division, another key explanation of the international relationships will surely be regional particularism. Indeed, with the end of bipolarism and the beginning of multipolarism, each area (Arab world, Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America) is developing its own specificities, alongside global issues (terrorism, drugs traffic …).