Leaders in need of followers: Emerging powers in global governance

Abstract

Emerging powers such as Brazil and Germany increasingly articulate their desire for leadership in global governance. Examples comprise the bids for permanent membership in the UN Security Council and the founding of the G20 at the WTO meeting in Cancùn. Emerging powers, however, often fail to achieve their goals. This article focuses on followership as a core condition for success and failure of emerging power leadership in global governance. I argue that in order to perform successfully, any leadership must be accepted by followers and that followership depends on the credible inclusion of the interests and/or ideas of potential followers into the leadership project. This argument is tested in case studies on Brazil’s and Germany’s bids for structural power in the UNSC, for directorship in international organizations and for policy positions in the WTO trade negotiations.