As we approach the pending annual Brics summit in Rio de Janeiro, its disinclination to act decisively against Israel’s actions in Gaza undercuts its reputation as the voice of the Global South, according to analysts and academicians. The inability of Brics to establish a united front in tackling a dangerous global environment, filled with wars and escalating crises in the Middle East – notably Israel’s unexpected assault on Iran, a Brics member – reveals the constraints of this alliance and its structural incapacity to effectively challenge the dominance of the US, the academics articulate.
Since it was formed in 2009, Brics was championed as a platform to enhance economic collaboration and reimagine the global system to better benefit developing economies. However, its track record is inconsistent, plagued by inherent disagreements and conflicting aspirations of the member nations that seem to have intensified over the last decade.
The forthcoming summit in Rio, slated for July 6th, seems to already fall short of expectations. Both Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping’s intentions of avoiding the event epitomizes the recurring question of the effectiveness and political maneuverings associated with the coalition. Owing to Brazil being a signatory to the International Criminal Court, mandating Putin’s arrest, the Russian leader has chosen to attend the summit digitally to prevent diplomatic complications for both nations.
Simultaneously, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s simultaneous state visit invitation to Brazil created a sensibility that convinced the Chinese premier to decrease the summit’s value by sending a representative. This series of events underscores the low expectations for the summit, indicating the inherent divisions affecting the future of the organiztion.
Delhi, a key contributor to Brics, has played a significant role in nurturing the collective. They’ve been able to use their position within the Non-Aligned Movement and increased closeness with the West, thanks to their booming economy, to position themselves as a thought leader for the Global South and as a conduit for communication with Western nations.
Under PM Modi’s leadership however, India has gravitated more towards the US, leading observers to underline that India envisions Brics more as a financial project, rather than geo-political. India has been perceived as being keen to control the expansion of Brics to prevent Chinese influence over current members, thereby mitigating the aggressiveness of a group theoretically prepared to challenge Western supremacy.
A considerable amount of speculation has surrounded the concept of Brics introducing its own currency to challenge the US dollar, however, India expressed clear lack of interest in such a venture. Instead, they have advocated for promotion of trade among Brics members utilizing their individual national currencies.
The question of Israel’s Gaza conflict and the lack of the collective’s leadership for the Global South reveals the group’s vulnerabilities. Despite South Africa’s presentation of a genocide case at the International Court of Justice, with Brics endorsing the case as a collective, only Brazil and Egypt, in addition to South Africa, have signed on.
On a different note, since 7 October 2023, after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel, Delhi has emerged as one of Israel’s most significant advocates. This has led some observers to suggest to Washington that Brics should be seen more as an ally rather than an opponent.
Moreover, the view that every Brics nation, aside from Iran, is reaping economic benefits from Israel’s military-industrial complex undermines the projected image of strong opposition to Western dominance. However, it’s argued that despite its setbacks, Brics has been successful in setting up arguably the world’s most prominent ‘mini-lateral’ stage for Global South countries to plan a response to the Western-dominated international order.
Particularly for countries like South Africa, Brics is seen as a significant foreign policy component to advance its ‘South-South’ agenda, which seeks to build stronger bilateral relations with countries from the Global South based on mutual values and shared historical experiences. But the effective implementation of this agenda has encountered obstacles due to the introduction of new initiatives that distract from the main goal of shaping a collective agenda to address the global governance system and international financial institutions.
Thus, the issue with Brics appears foundational. The ‘disparity’ and ‘divergent interests’ within the organization prevent them from evolving towards thorough institutionalization, in the form of either a permanent secretariat or legally binding summit decisions.
In the current scenario, with Russia facing international separation, an India governed by a party prioritizing its own interests with no inclination towards a common Brics vision, the future seems to indicate a potent waning of the collective. Yet it’s still probable that the organization will persist and maintain relevance, perhaps merely in symbolic form, due to its inherent guts in each of the core members’ foreign policy commitment relating to notions of South-South cooperation, progressive internationalism, and strategic non-alignment; themes that, while not universally overarching for each member, intertwine into the inter-relations of all members, making Brics an extremely compelling grouping to pledge commitment to.
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