LA FUNCIÓN DE LA FAO

The 2013 Human Development Report, “The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World” looks at the evolving geopolitics of our times, examining emerging issues and trends and also the new actors which are shaping the development landscape.

The Report describes the rise of the South as radically reshaping the world of the 21st Century, with developing nations driving economic growth, lifting hundreds of millions of people from poverty, and propelling billions more into a new global middle class. United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) 2013 Human Development Report (p6). Available at:

http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/presscenter/pressreleases/2013/03/14/-rise- of-south-transforming-global-power-balance-says-2013-human-development-report.html (Accessed: 5 May 2013)

This phenomenon goes well beyond the so-called BRICs, middle - income countries often represented by Brazil, Russia, India and China.

The report shows that more than 40 developing countries have made greater human development gains in recent decades than would have been predicted. These

achievements, according to the report, are largely attributable to sustained investment in education, health care and social programmes, and open engagement with an

increasingly interconnected world. The report warns that nonresponsive political

structures can prompt civil unrest, especially if economic opportunity does not keep pace with educational advancement, as in the countries that were part of 2011’s uprisings in the Arab States region. These social tensions are also acutely felt currently in many developed countries where austerity policies and declining growth impose hardships on millions. Available at:

http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/presscenter/pressreleases/2013/03/14/-rise- of-south-transforming-global-power-balance-says-2013-human-development-report.html (Accessed: 5 May 2013)

Political interference in public institutions has led to widespread distrust amongst many. This widespread trust problem has been driven by suspicions that politicians are serving only their own needs rather than the public interest. Many public institutions around the

delivering sustainable economic growth and jobs and a levelling of the apparent rising inequalities. Eroding trust in governments and markets is believed by a number of analysts to further weaken the outlook for economic recovery. In the long-term, this may result in further and more damaging civil unrest, political instability and potentially extremism. In particular, the younger generation has been significantly affected by the economic downturn. Because they are experiencing high levels of unemployment and the erosion of opportunity, they are seeking what they see as some form of revenge or justice.

Political turmoil, leading to civil unrest has spread throughout the Arab world. The

uprisings in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt led to the fall of national leaders, in the Libyan case through the direct intervention of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). After a brief period of calm, a situation of unrest and turmoil has returned.

How the African Union and the Arab League adjust to the political transformations of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya will also be closely watched by external powers as it represents the most significant challenge to authoritarian rule since the collapse of Soviet

communism.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has expanded its embrace of reform, especially through the Gulf Cooperation Council and diplomacy in Libya and Bahrain, according to the World Economic Forum (http://reports.weforum.org/outlook-2012/) (Accessed: 5 December 2013). While Saudi Arabia uses diplomacy as its mainstay with its neighbours, this has not always been the case. When the unrest in Bahrain was particularly intense in early 2011 it led at the time to a Saudi Arabian military intervention at the request of the Sunni King Hamad ben Issa Al-Khalifa of Bahrain.

Even with the Saudi Arabian military intervention there is continued unrest in Bahrain with the United Kingdom (UK) government issuing advice on 22 August 2013 to travellers visiting Bahrain to “Maintain a constant awareness of your surroundings, especially as unrest continues and violent protests pose a risk” (p2). The situation still remains volatile in Bahrain. Extract from: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/bahrain/ (Accessed

22 August 2013)

The long running dispute in Yemen with the Houthis resulted in the 2014 insurgency with Houthi fighters swept into Sana'a, the capital, and effectively seized control of the city from the Yemeni military within a couple of days in September 2014.

On 25 March 2015, Saudi Arabia and several other countries announced that they had begun military operations in Yemen against Houthi rebels. Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates issued a statement along with Saudi Arabia saying their goal is

to "repel Houthi aggression" in Yemen. Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Sudan are also members of the coalition. (BBC News, 26 March 2015 Available at:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-32061632). (Accessed: 1.8.15)

On 9 August 2015 the National Newspaper announced that the sixth UAE soldier had died since March 2015 fighting in Yemen with GCC forces in Yemen. (Available at: http://www.thenational.ae/uae/government/three-emirati-soldiers-killed-in-yemen-laid-to- rest---in-pictures) (Accessed: 15.8.14).

The turmoil in Syria has however continued to worsen. Regular clashes between

protesters, government forces have reportedly left tens of thousands of people dead, and there appears to be no plausible end to the bloodshed. The Syrian conflict, initially seen as a fight of democracy against dictatorship, transformed into a conflict between various ethnic groups. Extract from: http://www.weforum.org /news (Accessed: 24 January 2013). It was the emergence of the threat from the group known as ISIS, ISIL sometimes called the Islamic State or ‘Daesh’ in Arabic has gained global notoriety in early 2014 that their threat to Syria, Iraq and the region reached a tipping point and saw the international community intervene. What marks ISIS out is that it has claimed statehood and with that has established some of the machinery of state management. ISIS has not only

proclaimed a new Caliphate, but also administers the area of northern Iraq and eastern Syria where it holds sway. It handles law and order, some social services on a selective basis, and has an intelligence service and system of informers set up for it by former officials of the overthrown Ba’athist regime of Saddam Hussein. It has acquired funds to make it the richest non-state armed force in the world. Extract from: The Global Risks report 2015, World Economic Forum, p17 found in

http://www.weforum.org/reports/global-risks-report-2015 (Accessed on 1 February 2015).

Secretary General Ronald Nobel, International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) speaking at an official visit on Doha, Qatar on 14 September 2014 denounced Islamic State and went on to report that religious tensions are a permanent source of conflict and instability worldwide suggesting the opportunities for a disruption in global geo-politics remains evident. Coupled with the potential for radical Islamists to gain significant power within the region, significant caution will be required. Extract from: INTERPOL News and Media found in http://www.interpol.int/News-and-media/News/2014/N2014-17 (Accessed on 1 February 2015).