GUO Hai
Executive Dean at the Institute of Public Policy (IPP), South China University of Technology
Can we rethink the contemporary global development beyond the North/South binary?
This paper casts a critical perspective on the concept of Global South/North as an analytical framework for contemporary international political economy. It argues that the South/North dichotomy—historically rooted in the Cold War era and institutionalized through the Non-Alignment Movement (NAM)—might not be as capable of capturing the structural complexities of today’s global order as it is generally expected. Rather than reflecting a straightforward axis of colonial domination, contemporary tensions manifest through asymmetrical trade relations between producer- and consumer-states, intensified by economic nationalism and protectionism. These dynamics generate novel forms of inequality between and within states, along with socio-political consequences that transcend traditional North/South binaries. While the normative pursuit of equity for the developing world remains imperative, the author is convinced that conceptual precision is essential for diagnosing emerging and potential pathologies of the international system. The paper thus calls for scholarly engagement with more nuanced, historically attuned frameworks that illuminate the unprecedented structural imbalances reconfiguring paradigms of global development and international society in a new era.
Speaker Bio
Guo Hai holds a PhD from the University of Leeds and currently serves as Executive Dean at the Institute of Public Policy (IPP), South China University of Technology. His research specializes in International Relations and East Asian Studies, with a particular focus on Japanese foreign policy and Sino-US relations. Dr. Guo has published in leading peer-reviewed journals, including Critical Asian Studies and Asian Studies Review, and has authored and edited books on China’s diplomatic history and international strategy. His expertise extends to policy-oriented research, contributing extensively to analyses of Sino-US security relations, China-ASEAN dynamics, and Sino-Japanese relations. In addition to his research, Dr. Guo plays an editorial role as Assistant Editor of IPP Studies in the Frontiers of China’s Public Policy (Palgrave Macmillan). He has also led and participated in multiple nationally funded social science research projects at IPP.
