Rich countries' development aid to emerging countries shrank by over eight percent in 2007. Those countries' development nonetheless proceeded strongly. According to the International Monetary Fund, it will be the same again this year: the United States' economic growth rate will fall to 1.3 percent, that of the Eurozone to 1.5 percent, while emerging countries, with China and India in the lead, will continue to gallop ahead at a rhythm of 6.7 percent. The future is there, in Asia first of all, but also in Brazil, in the half of Africa that has caught on to globalization, and we should not forget raw materials-producing countries, Russia, as well as the Gulf emirates. Private capital is flowing into those countries: more than a trillion dollars in 2007, according to a report published June 10 by the World Bank.

    A page is being turned on the Industrial Revolution, which had established Europe's supremacy, then the United States' for two centuries. A multipolar world is being created at an accelerated speed. To simplify, the South is turning the tables on the North.

    The reversal manifests itself in the birth of giant companies that aspire in their turn to rise through the ranks of power and of "sovereign" funds, held by governments that want to invest in our businesses, our factories, our banks. This money is often welcome; it is sometimes threatening, when, for example, it comes from Gazprom, the driving force of a Russian neo-imperialism that does not hide that its aims are neither strictly nor solely commercial. Nonetheless, it would be uncalled-for not to authorize these companies to come here when our multinationals deploy themselves in their countries. Emerging countries' development must also extend to the possession of capital and brands.

    The essential quality of this spanking new world is interdependence. While the South gains in autonomy and profits from regional integrations, "globalization" has increased exchanges of products, capital, know-how and people at a planetary level. The problems of scarce resources and the environment are global. To stave off growing protectionist threats, the United States and Europe must agree to make room for the new powers in international organizations. In return, the South must assume its new responsibilities.

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    Translation: Truthout French language editor Leslie Thatcher.