IBSA's trilateral constellation and its development fund: Valuable pioneers in development cooperation?

Abstract

With a changing geopolitical landscape following the Northern-induced global financial meltdown, stagnation on global governance reform and failure to reach agreement on issues ranging from trade (Doha Development Round) to climate change (United Nations Convention on Climate Change), the India–Brazil–South Africa (IBSA) Dialogue Forum finds itself at the proverbial crossroads. At this point, with no summit having taken place since 2011, the future of IBSA is uncertain in part because the three IBSA partners have allowed ambivalence and lack of leadership to hold sway. Yet the current fluidity in the international environment has ironically meant that IBSA is more relevant and needed than ever before. IBSA is well placed to play a vital role in arresting the current trajectory of the global governance architecture, particularly when it comes to concerns of development. As this article argues, it is in the area of development cooperation that IBSA has found its niche in demonstrating the possibilities that development diplomacy and South–South cooperation avail, while challenging traditional norm conceptions when it comes to the future of international development financial institutions. Yet the question remains as to how this will be used going forward, as there is little strategic discussion between the trilateral partners on the future of development diplomacy and the IBSA Fund.