When the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India and China first met at the Yekaterinburg, Russia, summit in 2009, the event did not attract much attention in the West. The Group of 20, which had begun its regular summit meetings a year earlier, gained much more media and analytical prominence.
In 2011, BRIC became BRICS after South Africa joined the group. Many critics of BRICS argued that its members, spread across three continents, had very little to offer each other and that they all remained heavily dependent on their established relationships with key Western partners.
However, over the years, the group has shown remarkable resilience. It has not only survived, but has also managed to expand its membership and launch a full set of affiliated bodies, including the New Development Bank (NBD) and the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement (ARC), as well as mechanisms for multilateral parliamentary exchanges. and civil society interactions.
This gradual evolution of BRICS has sparked not only interest but also concerns in the West about how the group could affect the global balance of economic and political powers. For example, China is alleged to use BRICS to win the hearts and minds of the Global South, offering seemingly very attractive, if unrealistic, models of cooperation.
Such accusations are baseless. As Chinese President Xi Jinping said at the 15th BRICS Summit in South Africa in 2023, BRICS is neither a meeting for countries to take sides nor an exercise in bloc confrontation; rather, it is an effort to expand the architecture of peace and development.
No one in China or other countries plans to turn BRICS into an anti-Western political alliance or an economic integration project. BRICS members have not even considered forming a bilateral political or military bloc.
The reality is that many developing countries are seeking to expand cooperation within BRICS, which explains the great appeal of the BRICS cooperation mechanism. In recent years, the group has focused on shared development, advancing cooperation in trade, investment, energy and finance. It has also expanded its collaboration in areas such as supply chains, logistics, agricultural and food security, and cross-border payments to drive global economic growth.
Furthermore, in the context of some Western countries trying to maintain their hegemonic status through technological blockades, BRICS countries are working to improve global technological governance, ensuring that technological achievements benefit more people. They have held forums on industrial internet and digital manufacturing, as well as big data for sustainable development, fostering new momentum for global growth.
At the same time, BRICS cooperation seizes the opportunities of the digital economy by adopting the BRICS Digital Economy Partnership Framework and launching a cooperation initiative among BRICS countries on the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry, promoting shared development.
Likewise, it would be inconceivable to imagine that BRICS could pose a mortal danger to Western-centered institutions such as the IMF, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the Group of Seven (G7) and so on. The reality is that many of the current and potential BRICS members are deeply involved with Western institutions and there are no compelling reasons for these nations to break the multiple ties that link them to the West. The IMF or IBRD may seem inefficient, but this does not mean that the Global South is ready to dismiss them and start building a new global financial architecture from scratch.
As the first multilateral development bank initiated entirely by emerging economies and developing countries, the NDB provides financial support for the development of various sectors, including infrastructure, clean energy, environmental protection and digital infrastructure. If the NDB can establish itself as a premier bank for emerging economies, its potential clients would appreciate this opportunity to mobilize resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects.
Furthermore, BRICS facilitates multilateralism. Most Western multilateral institutions are only quasi-multilateral in the sense that the United States always has the final say in the IBRD, G7, NATO and AUKUS. There is no such hegemonic power within BRICS: all its members have equal rights and responsibilities.
The group joins developing nations in pursuing development and revitalization, upholding equity and justice, and continually striving to promote economic growth. The BRICS cooperation mechanism is guiding the global governance system towards greater balance.
True multilateralism and international cooperation promoted by organizations like BRICS provide the world with an opportunity for better development. Western politicians and academics should accept this new reality that BRICS represents, which includes underrepresented nations without being anti-Western.
Note: this is an article republished from the media “CGTN” through a cooperation agreement between both parties for the dissemination of journalistic content. Original link.
Andrey Kortunov is the academic director of the Russian Council for International Affairs based in Moscow.
Add Comment