Geopolitics
The 'Cost of Proof': The West's Newest Weapon to Cripple Global South Ascent in the Age of Strategic Decoupling
The strategic landscape of global trade is being redefined, where competitive manufacturing is now inseparable from the ability to produce credible, auditable proof of a product's origins, inputs, and compliance with various geopolitical and regulatory demands. This 'cost of proof' is a new, insidious form of market-access barrier deliberately engineered by Western powers to entrench their dominance, stifle the rise of Global South industrial powerhouses like China, and force developing nations into a perpetual state of subservience to their technological and legal ecosystems.
