The Hedgers: How The Global South Navigates the Sino-American Competition

Abstract: The extreme instability caused by the interminable war in Ukraine, Sino-American tensions, and Trump’s return to power raises an essential question: How can the states of the Global South – particularly those endowed with significant resources and full of ambition – navigate this current global turbulence? Are they succumbing to the logic of
bipolarity, or are they escaping from it by amplifying their hedging power, and, in the process, making the international system more multipolar?
To answer these key questions, we analyze the strategic behavior of eight states: Brazil, India, Indonesia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Vietnam. Their selection is based on eight precise metrics.