BRICS was established as an economic bloc by the fastest-growing countries, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. BRICS has positioned itself as an economic bloc and an alternative to the G-7, the economic bloc of the most advanced countries, since the first summit held in 2009. While the G-7 represents the advanced Western world and the North, BRICS represents the non-Western world and the Global South.
The 15th BRICS summit held in Johannesburg, South Africa, represents a turning point in the history of the platform and the changing world system. Several important titles were discussed by the BRICS member states and several significant messages were given to the world. If the bloc can implement these decisions and take some steps, it will be very effective. I will shortly underline some advantages and challenges of this bloc.
The first discussion was the enlargement of the bloc. The leaders of BRICS countries have invited six strategically important countries to join the platform. These six invited countries are quite critical. Argentina is the second largest economy country in South America. Ethiopia is the heavyweight player in the Horn of Africa and the only non-colonized country in the continent. Iran is one of the main actors in the Middle East and a staunch anti-Western country. Three Arab powers, namely Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), are the most relevant political, military and economic powers in the Arab world.
The membership of these six countries will surely increase the BRICS’s sphere of influence all over the world and dramatically change the global balance of power. In the midterm, it will restrain the influence of the West in the non-Western parts of the world. Considering that many other countries show interest in joining the bloc, BRICS will soon become a serious geopolitical power center.
Second, the invitation of six countries to BRICS is a message to the Western world since some of the invited countries, such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt, are traditional partners of the Western world. Furthermore, it is interesting that the enlargement decision of the BRICS members came at a time when the NATO alliance expanded after the Ukrainian War. That is, the enlargement decision can be read as a direct message to NATO.
Third, the BRICS members have discussed whether the platform uses its own currencies in their trade with each other. Thus, they have demonstrated again that they do not want to rely on the U.S. dollar. In this case, since it has the strongest and largest economy among the BRICS members, China’s currency can emerge as an alternative to the U.S. dollar. The decision about the use of national currencies of the member states is a message to the world economic order, claiming for an alternative global governance.
Fourth, the summit has given a clear message in the name of China, the leading beneficiary of the bloc. BRICS plays a significant role in China’s geopolitical ambitions and geostrategic calculations. If BRICS were to become a more coherent economic bloc and harmonize the economic policies of its members, it could challenge the dominance of the G-7 and play a bigger role in the G-20. In this case, China, the strongest economy in BRICS, will be able to challenge the American hegemony in the economic sphere.
Fifth, the BRICS Summit also means a lot to Russia and President Vladimir Putin. The Russian government benefits from its association with BRICS. Although many Western politicians and academics think that the Russian Federation is isolated, Russia has been showing the West that it is not isolated in international politics. Mainly, countries from the non-Western parts of the world, especially members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organizations and BRICS, continue to maintain their good relations with Russia and President Putin. Considering that the next BRICS Summit will be held in Kazan, President Putin will continue to influence the platform next year.
Despite many promising features of BRICS, there are some challenges threatening the effectiveness of BRICS in international politics.
First, one of the biggest challenges to BRICS is the lack of common ideology or shared political values. The members of BRICS come from different historical backgrounds and different civilizations. The bloc was established mainly for pragmatic and conjunctural reasons. Members of the bloc still suspect one another; in case of an enlargement, the friction and suspicion among the member states will increase even more.
Second, another challenge to the success and effectiveness of BRICS is the divergent geopolitical interests of its member states. They agree on what they oppose (Western hegemony), but there is no agreement on what they want in the end. The BRICS members have different political and economic expectations and it is difficult for them to overcome these differences. This means that sustainability is a big problem for BRICS. While they unite against the Western hegemony, some members, such as China, Russia and India, compete with one another in Asia and Africa. One may even claim that some members of the bloc, such as India and China, are hostile to one another.
Third, despite increasing problems in the Western world, Western countries are still more resilient to global economic and political challenges. That is, it will not be easy for BRICS to win the competition with the West. The cost may be too high for the BRICS members. At least, the West will play some members against the others.
Fourth, some of the BRICS members, such as China, are the largest beneficiaries of the global economic market. However, the increasing power and effectiveness of BRICS will lead to fragmentation in the world financial system. In this case, China will suffer a huge loss. In other words, the BRICS members face a paradox. While contributing to the fragmentation of the world economy, they will damage the global economic system that benefits them the most.
It is too early to claim that BRICS will claim global hegemony. Soon, we will see whether BRICS is a real alternative to the Western economic system and geopolitical hegemony or is a puffed-up paper tiger.
