Airstrip One

I have called on a new world to balance the old

A few news stories over the past few weeks have demonstrated the inevitability of proliferation.

Nigeria has indicated that countries that have gained the West's favour will still shop at Rogue States R Us for their military needs, namely missiles from North Korea and nukes from Pakistan.

These dangers have also established a new alliance between Brazil, India and South Africa. They are hoping to establish another voice to the United States in multilateral institutions with designs on proliferation and the United Nations Security Council:

The three countries expressed their unhappiness with "serious inadequacies" in "the implementation of and compliance with" both the non-proliferation and disarmament commitments of countries, as much a reference to NPT signatories like Iran and Libya that had clandestine nuclear programmes as to the US, which continues to refine its nuclear arsenal even though the NPT commits it to disarmament.

The three countries will work towards the "early reform of the UN to make it more democratic" and have agreed to back each other for permanent seats on a reformed Security Council.

Dlamini-Zuma, however, added the caveat that South Africa would be a candidate only in the context of consensus in Africa . If the African bloc came up with a different name, she hoped India and Brazil would support them.

This para was not there as a formality, said Amorim. "We could make a difference. We could help the Quartet get the roadmap implemented", a reference to the stalled efforts of the UN, the US , Russia , and the EU to get the Israelis to agree to a durable peace with an independent Palestinian state.

Since other powers are unable to compete with the United States at a military level, they are combining to increase their influence in the diplomatic sphere. These new groupings redress the balance for a multipolar world, and as the reference to the Quartet suggests, anticipate success through diplomatic channels as America grapples with the limits of its military capabilities.

(23.23, 10th February 2004)