Nepal, Nov. 13 -- There is a distinct, recurring theatre to economic governance in the Global South. Every few years, a polished, Western-educated technocrat emerges from the periphery, steps onto an international stage, and is bestowed a gleaming accolade by the high priests of global finance. In 2016, Ram Sharan Mahat was named Global and Asia-Pacific Finance Minister of the Year by The Banker, a publication nestled within the institutional embrace of the UK's Financial Times. A decade later, Swarnim Wagle was thrust onto the TIME100 Climate list as a visionary leader navigating the existential perils of planetary heating.

On the surface, these honours are sold to the domestic public as triumphs of national, patriarchal pride. We are i...