Focus on the Global South is a left-of-center activist think tank based in Thailand. The organization was co-founded in 1995 by Walden Bello, a fellow and former board member of the Transnational Institute who was arrested by United States authorities in 1978 for leading a takeover of the Philippine consulate in San Francisco. He also broke into the World Bank headquarters in Washington, D.C., stealing approximately 3,000 pages of confidential documents. ¹

The organization has received funding from left-of-center private grantmaking organizations including the Open Society Foundations and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. ^{2 3}

Background

Focus on the Global South, often referred to as Focus, is a left-of-center think tank based in Bangkok, Thailand. The organization was co-founded in 1995 by Walden Bello and was created to challenge “corporate-driven” globalization in the so-called “global south.” ^{1 4}

The organization claims that it was at the “forefront of the struggles that brought forth the World Social Forum” and “derailed the World Trade Organization.” ⁴

The organization also claims that there is a “new world order modeled on xenophobia, nationalism, religious intolerance, and individualism,” and it is a “pivotal moment for progressive movements to re-capture the narrative.” ⁵

The organization is a long-time partner of the Chulalongkorn University Social Research Institute. ⁶

Affiliated Organizations

Focus on the Global South is listed as a partner of Thousand Currents, a left-of-center grantmaking organization that provides financial assistance to left-leaning projects, organizations, and activists in developing nations (known to activists as the “Global South”). ^{7 8}

Focus is also partnered with the Solidago Foundation, which lists Focus as a grantee in “inclusive economies” on its website. The Solidago Foundation is a left-of-center grantmaking organization that has provided grants to organizations that support environmentalist regulations, increased government spending and increased unionization, and left-of-center social policies on issues including race and immigration. ^{9 10}

People

Focus on the Global South was co-founded in 1995 by Walden Bello, a professor of sociology at the University of the Philippines. He obtained a Ph.D. in sociology from Princeton University in 1975 and worked as a visiting professor at the University of California Los Angeles in 2002, UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara in 2006, and taught for four years at University of California Berkeley from 1978 until 1982. ¹

Bello is a fellow and former board member of the Transnational Institute, a left-wing to far-left research and advocacy group located in Amsterdam. The Institute is stridently opposed to international free-market capitalism and broadly supports extensive economic central planning. Material published by the Institute also criticizes the international influence of the United States and Israel, including charging the latter with existing as an “apartheid regime” rooted in “extreme racism and colonialism.” ^{11 12}

Bello was arrested by United States authorities in 1978 for leading a takeover of the Philippine consulate in San Francisco, although he was released a week later after a hunger strike. Bello also broke into the World Bank headquarters in Washington, D.C., stealing approximately 3,000 pages of confidential documents. The World Bank provides grants and loans to low- and middle-income countries with the goal of promoting economic development and reducing poverty. ^{1 13}

Bello is a former chairman of the board of Greenpeace Southeast Asia. Bello’s other current and past roles include the national chair emeritus and national chair of Akbayan, a left-of-center political party in the Philippines. He has also served as a board member of Food First and the International Forum on Globalisation. ¹

Bello is the author or co-author of 14 books focusing on issues across Asia. ¹

Funding

Focus on the Global South receives funding from private grantmaking foundations. The organization has received funding from the Open Society Foundations, a private grantmaking foundation created and funded by billionaire financier George Soros. Focus received $209,635 through a grant from the Open Society Foundations in 2017, a grant of $250,000 in 2020, and another $250,000 in 2023. ¹⁴

Focus also received three grants from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (also known as the MacArthur Foundation). The three grants, all provided to Focus in 1999, amounted to $57,000. ³

1. “WALDEN BELLO.” Transnational Institute. Accessed November 18, 2024. https://www.tni.org/files/bio_long/Nick%20Buxton/waldenbello%20long%20bio.pdf.
2. “Open Society Foundations – Awarded Grants, Scholarships, and Fellowships.” Open Society Foundations. Accessed November 18, 2024. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/grants/past?filter_keyword=focus+on+the+global+south.
3. “Focus on the Global South.” MacArthur Foundation. November 15, 1999. Accessed November 18, 2024. https://www.macfound.org/grantee/focus-on-the-global-south-28134/.
4. “Who We Are.” Focus on the Global South. Accessed November 18, 2024. https://focusweb.org/who-we-are/.
5. “Work Plan 2018-2020.” Focus on the Global South. Accessed November 18, 2024. https://focusweb.org/work-plan-2018-2020/.
6. Castillo, Galileo de Guzman. “CRITICAL SOCIAL RESEARCH TOWARDS COLLECTIVE TRANSFORMATIVE ACTIONS.” Focus on the Global South. April 30, 2024. Accessed November 18, 2024. https://focusweb.org/critical-social-research-towards-collective-transformative-actions/.
7. “Focus on the Global South.” Thousand Currents. Accessed November 18, 2024. https://thousandcurrents.org/partner/focus-on-the-global-south/.
8. “FAQ.” Thousand Currents. Accessed November 18, 2024. https://thousandcurrents.org/faq/.
9. “Focus on the Global South.” Accessed November 18, 2024. https://solidago.org/partners/focus-on-the-global-south/.
10. “Solidago Foundation – Tax Return – 2018.” ProPublica. Accessed November 18, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/202963670/201921429349302067/full
11. “WALDEN BELLO.” Transnational Institute. Accessed November 18, 2024. https://www.tni.org/files/bio_long/Nick%20Buxton/waldenbello%20long%20bio.pdf.
12. Estapé, Alys Samson. “Israel: the model coercive state and why boycotting it is key to emancipation everywhere.” TNI Longreads. Accessed November 18, 2024. https://longreads.tni.org/stateofpower/israel-the-model-coercive-state.
13. “Who We Are.” World Bank Group. Accessed November 18, 2024. https://www.worldbank.org/ext/en/who-we-are.
14. “Open Society Foundations – Awarded Grants, Scholarships, and Fellowships.” Open Society Foundations. Accessed November 18, 2024. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/grants/past?filter_keyword=focus+on+the+global+south.