Here I sit in Abuja, Nigeria, in the geographic middle of a global middle class country in the middle of a heated exchange with a colleague who is lambasting contemporary U.S. foreign policy. He says our bone-headed policies are bad for Nigeria and other emerging global middle class countries (GMC2s). And by the way, he says, they’re really bad for the U.S. as well.

Nigeria and South Africa. Brazil and Mexico. India and Indonesia – the new Global Middle Class Countries. (GMC2) Not to mention the rising power of the Peoples Republic of China. All around us, once-weak states are growing by leaps and bounds economically, and their appetites are growing for higher political status as well. They want to be taken seriously by the world’s ruling powers. They want their voices heard in the rooms where the rules of the global game are written and interpreted, from the WTO to the UN to the board rooms of companies like IBM. This rise of the new middle class powers is a critical millennial event, just as important and potentially transformative in its own way as the rise of the national middle classes in countries like Germany, France and the UK.

These global middle class countries are starting to feel their oats and becoming much more assertive in fora like the UN General Assembly. As well they might, implies a recent issue of the Economist in its cover story about the emerging power of what used to be called the Third World.

According to the Economist, for the first time in the modern period developing countries now produce one half of the global GDP. They hold most of the world’s financial reserves, and are responsible for scarfing up most of its energy. They have become a very important international economic force in their own right, with substantial effects on the well-being of developed countries-- like the US – through channels like international borrowing and lending, inflation rates, and employment.

Looks like the GMC2s and the editors at the Economist are reading from the same playbook. At this year’s annual meetings of the World Bank and the IMF, held significantly in Singapore, some of the countries we used to call ‘Third World’ are insisting they be given greater powers in setting Bank and Fund policies. Their representatives remind us that some of their economies are stronger than those of several G-8 nations, and they want their proportional share of the right to set policies. The U.S. and others responded to their entreaties with cautious optimism and offered a 2 step plan to slightly expand the participation of the bigger, more economically powerful LDCs. This may have mollified the Indians and the Chinese and the Brazilians and the South Africans and Nigerians…at least until next year’s meeting. And in the UN General Assembly some Latin presidents have launched radical rhetoric while their more powerful (and subtle) confreres seriously seek seats on the Security Council.

Yes, we certainly have to pay close attention to Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the other dangerous ‘stans’. Some of the radicals within their borders want to blow us up, as quickly as possible. National security has to be at the top of the agenda, and we need GMC2 support in the ‘GWOT’ At the same time, foreign policy analysts need to remember there are other challenges, and even some global opportunities, beyond the all-too-familiar threats. As my critical friend reminded me in Abuja, there are openings out there for the U.S. to cooperate with other nations over trade, investment, infrastructures, regional stability, and even the terms of globalization.

There really is a new movement afoot in the world. The poor and the not so poor are getting pushy. The rising economic power and political influence of the GMC2 need to be factored into the design and conduct of America’s foreign policy. If you don’t believe it, come to Abuja, Nigeria and talk to people there. By the way, they are also one of our largest oil suppliers.