Because the BRICS focus on anti-Western revenge
Here's what the new global economic order predicts according to the BRICS, which represent 41% of the global population, 24% of GDP and 16% of global trade. Emanuela Colaci's article for International Affairs
In the final declaration of the summit of the BRICS countries on 23 and 24 June, we read a lot of rhetoric of the 'new world order' in an anti-Western key. Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa have expressed their priorities for the future in 75 fundamental points: the "return of multilateralism", "the global economy against protectionism", "the reform of the UN Security Council". The summit of 'emerging' countries brought forward by a few days the G7 summit, scheduled until June 28 in Elmau with the heads of state and government of Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Canada, United States and of the European Union as a guest.
Two interpretations for the many contradictions
The BRICS proposals do not take into account the main contradictions of the ex-emerging countries with respect to the principles of multilateralism and the UN order based on peace and on the territorial integrity of sovereign states: among the five emerging countries only Brazil has adopted international sanctions and denounced the Russian aggression of Ukraine in the vote of the United Nations Assembly on 2 and 24 March last .
On the path of contradiction – with Russia, an aggressor country, which did not hide the threat of the use of the "nuclear weapon" incidentally to the aggression of Ukraine – the final declaration also includes an invitation to dialogue between Kyiv and Moscow and the need for greater arms control, especially nuclear weapons. The "multilateral" focus of the BRICS does not consider the responsibilities towards the civilians killed in Russia's war on Ukraine: according to the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, more than 5,000 dead and 6,000 wounded among the population Ukraine (estimates considered low), with "most of the casualties caused by the use of explosive weapons with a large impact area, including heavy artillery bombardments and multiple launch systems of rockets, missiles and air strikes".
How to read these rhetorical positions in the light of the war against Ukraine? A first interpretation comes from the list of countries invited to the XIV meeting, this year organized by Beijing: the list of participants included delegations from Argentina, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Cambodia, Malaysia, Senegal, Thailand, Uzbekistan , Fiji and Ethiopia. Are all potential candidates to enter the BRICS + formula? In this sense, the statements of Chinese President Xi Jinping, ready to offer a protective umbrella to the possible new “non-aligned” ones, are directed: “Some countries politicize development issues and impose sanctions to create divisions and clashes. These countries are committed to building 'small courtyards with high walls' and sanctions to artificially create clashes and divisions ”. Xi's attack on the system of "unilateral sanctions", an obstacle to harmonious and global development in the Chinese vision, discharges the responsibilities on the countries of the Western Alliance, responsible for bringing the world to the brink of the food and economic crisis. Especially on the already precarious well-being of the countries of the southern hemisphere.
The second interpretation takes you straight to the heart of Vladimir Putin's ideology , expressed on several occasions and also in his speech in videoconference with the four BRICS leaders: "Western states unload their macroeconomic errors on the rest of the world through financial mechanisms" , said the Russian president. These statements follow the ideological background expressed at the Economic Forum in St. Petersburg on 17 June last: “When I spoke in Davos in 2020 I reiterated that the unipolar order is over. It is a historical and natural question. The United States that declared victory in the Cold War did not realize that new centers with new models of institutions and economic growth were developing around the world. These centers have the right to defend their national sovereignty. These changes have a fundamental character, it is impossible to remain seated and wait for everything to return to the way it was before. But it seems that some Western leaders remain attached to these beliefs ”.
An alternative model to the Western one
The BRICS represent 41% of the global population, 24% of GDP and 16% of global trade . The real novelty concerns the group's attempt to influence international relations through an anti-Western revenge, offering "economic" guarantees on free trade and global well-being to the countries most in difficulty on issues such as food and energy supplies. Russia thus becomes the country attacked by sanctions – with the obvious disadvantage of the part of the world that is worse off – without analyzing the reasons that led to the sanctions regime, currently in force, or pressing issues for food security such as the blockade of food. wheat, of which Russian responsibilities are evident.
The desire to build an alternative (power) model to the Western one was clear from the first joint declaration of the BRICS on June 16, 2009 at the meeting in Ekaterinburg, Russia: "We express our strong commitment to multilateral diplomacy with the United Nations which they play the central role in addressing global challenges and threats. In this regard, we reaffirm the need for a global reform of the UN in order to make it more efficient so that it can face today's global challenges more effectively ”.
This will has not only affected the search for a reform of post-World War II multilateralism: since 2009, regional crises and wars have followed one another in the world, which have seen Russia play a fundamental role. In the Syrian conflict – Syria is among the five UN countries that refused to condemn Russian aggression against Ukraine – and in Mali , where the Wagner brigade has supported the government's action in an anti-Islamist key. Bamako has recently closed diplomatic relations with France, with Paris forced to withdraw most of the soldiers of the Barkahane mission , activated in 2013 with the dispatch of 5,000 units.
If Russia has acted on a military and strategic level – also through the infiltration of intelligence in Western countries, as happened in Italy – over the years China has strengthened its commercial partnerships, in African countries as in Asia , up to reaching Europe. (again, in Italy ). The new Silk Road remains Beijing's mortgage on the realization of that new global economic order that sees China leading the balance of trade and the supply of fundamental raw materials.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/primo-piano/perche-i-brics-puntano-sul-revanscismo-anti-occidente/ on Sat, 02 Jul 2022 05:39:47 +0000.