A few months ago I wrote a TNR Online essay about large developing countries trying to form a coalition to counter the United States and the European Union. The Economist has more on Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's role in this. Key grafs:

Lula looks like an ardent promoter of an old idea, fashionable in the Non-Aligned Movement in the 1970s: that poor countries can stand up to rich ones and achieve development by co-operating with each other. In 20 foreign trips since taking office in January 2003, Lula has tried to rally developing countries like the union organiser he used to be. He has formed a co-operation pact with India and South Africa, two other emerging democracies. In Geneva last week he joined UN chief Kofi Annan and the presidents of Chile and France in calling for a noble-sounding fund to fight world hunger, whose details are vague....

South-south trade is unlikely to pay off so handsomely soon. China will be a fierce competitor for Brazil's manufacturers, as well as a promising market for its commodities. India is one of the world's most protected economies. Even Argentina, Brazil's closest diplomatic friend, is trying to reduce imports of Brazilian textiles without flouting the rules of Mercosur. Lula's wariness in dealing with the United States is understandable, especially in the absence of progress in the global trade talks. But that need not make it wise.

I doubt the Economist intended to paint France as a developing country.