The BRICS intergovernmental organization has expanded over time and has become more of a geopolitical bloc today. The member states – Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates – meet annually at formal meetings. The 16th BRICS Summit, on October 22-24 2024, was set to become a turning point in the creation of a multipolar world. It was set in Kazan, Russia, as the country is still struck by U.S. sanctions regarding the war in Ukraine. The signal sent here is that the U.S. sanctions did not meet their ends and Russia will not be isolated. The growing numbers of the BRICS organization are proving that Turkey is at the highest degree of conversation to join, and the 27 country representatives of Asian, African, Middle Eastern, and Latin American countries in attendance as well. In South-East Asia, Malaysia and Indonesia have also expressed their desire to join the organization.
For the most part, the Kazan Declaration was focused on global governance, economics, and humanitarian. Nevertheless, they touched up on the environment, healthcare, and tourism sectors.
What conclusions can we draw from the 16th BRICS Summit?
Global governance
BRICS have reaffirmed their commitment and desire to improve global governance. They aim to make the international system more “flexible, effective, efficient, responsive, representative, legitimate, democratic, and accountable”. In their joint declaration, they emphasized the need to include Emerging Markets and Developing Countries (EMDCs) and countries in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean in global decision-making. The language in itself used in the declaration displayed a desire for BRICS to be seen as a complementary group, and not as a rival to the G7 and G20 groups – nor to the United Nations (UN)-, which would provide another perspective to global decisions.
The regular mention of the UN resolutions in the joint declaration shows the will of BRICS countries to work with the organization, and not against it, their ambition is to reform rather than take over. The goal is to include the rest of the world’s interests in the UN prerogatives, not only Western’s. Overall, it is expressed that the world’s structure is not inclusive enough and it needs to change for all countries to be represented.
Regarding Global governance, one telling saying in the joint declaration was the emphasis on “African solutions to African problems”. This was also adapted to other continents and highlights the anti-neo-colonialism Global South countries can feel, as well as re-emphasizing the People’s right to self-determination. This is targeted towards Western countries but not only, as the fear of China’s expansionist ambitions is still present. It is also targeting the ambitious countries that could use the BRICS organization to feed their wants.
Economics
Economics is an ambitious sector for BRICS. Their goal is to propose an alternative system to the US dollar one. Aligned with their global governance aspirations, they are looking to reform the current international financial architecture to make it more just and inclusive. The main narrative was focused on the use of local currencies for bilateral trade, and a Russian proposal for a BRICS payment system outside of SWIFT. The main goal is to create a system where countries are not affected by each other’s financial sanctions and by the US dollar’s fluctuations.
Despite this strong discourse, however, BRICS has not yet offered a clear plan to achieve its goals.
Humanitarian
The Kazan Declaration put a strong emphasis on the current wars and conflicts happening in the Middle East and Africa. They specifically expressed their concerns over the escalation of violence in Sudan and Haiti and put a strong focus on the current catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The BRICS countries called for an immediate, comprehensive, and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and called for the creation of conditions to allow political and diplomatic solutions in the region as a whole. They reaffirmed their denouncing of Israeli attacks against humanitarian operations, facilities, personnel, and distribution points.
Conclusion
This declaration gives more credibility to the BRICS organization, which it was lacking beforehand. Their goal with this declaration is to show their cooperation and support of each other, their consensus over many important matters and to show the world the Global South countries will work together to get their proper seat at the table. They also showed that this declaration was not a one-off. They created proper cooperation tools and acknowledged the important cooperation perspectives with each other over even more domestic matters. The attendance of countries like Turkey, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres discussed with President Putin, and the declarations following the summit of several countries’ wishes to join is also to be noted. The BRICS’ appeal is now very palpable and this suggests that the organization is becoming a significant platform for international dialogue.
However, as much as this declaration seems to provide much-needed credibility to the BRICS organization, it needs to be nuanced. The Summit also displayed the internal contradictions BRICS are facing. The main notable difference is the less-confrontational India, Brazil, and South Africa faced with the anti-western agenda of Russia and China. Some silences were also really loud. Only one sentence was dedicated to the war in Ukraine, where no global position was taken, but which “recalls national positions”. Likewise, the subject of the Indo-Pacific, where China and India have different visions for the future of the region, was not touched upon. This apparent neutrality highlights the group’s internal divisions regarding significant geopolitical conflicts. As such, the question remains whether BRICS can act as a cohesive counterbalance.
Main source: “The Kazan Declaration”, Kazan, Russian Federation, 23rd October 2024.
Featured image: South Asia Journal, “Kazan’s BRICS Summit is a Head-On Challenge to Western Influence”.
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