Co-development: North South cooperation
North-South cooperation is necessary in order to build a peaceful world based on an inclusive model of development. Fifty years after the decolonization of Africa and the Middle East, the traumatic memory remains vivid across all continents. The economic, political and cultural domination of the West has replaced military colonization. The balance of power has now shifted in favor of the Asia Pacific region and emerging countries, redefining the traditional North-South dichotomy.
In order to tackle the challenges of co-development, it is necessary to go beyond the negative memories of the South versus the North without overlooking historical facts. It is also imperative to avoid subjecting history to essentialism and conducting analyses of current realities with an outdated perspective. Memory needs to be a duty, not a weapon. The Amadeus Institute seeks to outline the concrete configurations of postcolonial North South relations: the ACP-EU partnership and the advanced status between members of the EU and countries bordering the Mediterranean to the South provide tangible examples. We need to evaluate the accomplishments and future goals of such cooperation.
The various regions of the South need to find their place in international relations. Access to primary resources, education and health is analyzed by the Center of Analysis and Publications and debated during the MEDays forum. The goal is to identify the evolution and future challenges of North-South cooperation. With its multi-disciplinary nature, co-development touches upon a wide range of issues: social, economic and environmental. The subsequent study of these themes must then be cross-analyzed with conclusions from the “economic growth and regional integration”
