WeeklySA_AdminGLOBAL: Political analyst Aníbal Garzón , who specialises in international relations, has just published the book BRICS: The transition towards an alternative world order (Akal, 2024), where he analyses the importance of emerging countries in this changing world. In the following question-and-answer interview by Spanish journalist Jayro Sanchez, Garzón shares insights into the subject of his book…
‘TENSIONS BETWEEN GLOBAL POWERS HAVE RISEN TO COLD WAR LEVELS’
By Jayro Sanchez
BRICS is a group of powers that aims to build an alternative global architecture to the one established by the United States after the end of the Cold War (1947-1989) and the implosion of the Soviet Union (1991). What are its reasons for wanting to do so?
The states of the global south that make up this body have been excluded from the unipolar international system controlled by the United States. They do not have power comparable to that of the West in its most important institutions: the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB), the Security Council of the United Nations (UN)…
Although they have been demanding a more participatory role in these structures for a long time, they have seen the lack of interest in their reform proposals and have joined forces to create new structures.
How are they going to build them?
BRICS is very pragmatic because it is made up of countries from different continents and cultures. It therefore wants to base its project on the defence of national sovereignty, mutual respect and non-interference, principles that were already expressed at the Bandung Conference in 1955.
The members of the bloc do not agree on all the issues they face, but they believe that their different realities and national interests can coexist in a multipolar world. Since the bloc was founded in 2009, they have been trying to create parallel structures as alternatives to those governed by Western states.
One of the most famous is the New Development Bank (NDB), which is chaired by Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff. It opens up new avenues for nations that the IMF and the World Bank do not lend to on the orders of the US, its only member with veto power.
In addition, the powers hold numerous meetings among themselves to discuss such relevant issues as sport, youth or agriculture. Russia has hosted more than 200 in 2024 alone. Their goal is quite obvious: they seek to build a model of South-South cooperation that will free them from the imperialist strategies of the Global North.
For the moment, this is possible because of the practical framework within which they have decided to operate. However, when the number of BRICS members increases, their supranational structures and decision-making processes could become as complex as those of the European Union (EU).
More and more countries are showing their intention to join the organisation. What criteria must they meet to be included?
The main one was pointed out last year at the Johannesburg Summit. The BRICS want to incorporate other emerging economies with good reserves of raw materials because they want to create their own currency and financial system, and, to do so, they need the guarantee that these resources represent.
That is why they have been willing to welcome the United Arab Emirates, Iran and Saudi Arabia. In addition, states with other types of interests, such as Cuba, which is an important promoter of scientific research and medical training, are categorised as partners of the bloc.
BRICS was created by China, Russia, India and Brazil (correction: South Africa). The first two have long been the US’s main rivals, and also the group’s main economic support. Does this mean that they are the leaders?
Of course, they play very important roles. Beijing, which is a commercial giant, has a more economic role. Without its help, the figures that the BRICS manage would not be as good.
On the other hand, Moscow has an indisputable geopolitical role. The coup d’état that took place in Ukraine in 2014 and the resulting clashes confirm this.
Both this war and the militarisation of Taiwan are strategies devised by the US government to force Presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping not to pursue a significant foreign policy beyond countries located close to their own.
Washington knows that it would be very difficult for the global south to destroy its geostrategic and military power and develop common projects without Russia and China. Some media outlets and international policy experts say the organisation is doomed to failure, citing the historically poor relations between the Russian and Chinese governments as a determining factor.
All these theories are part of the Western media strategy against the BRICS, which is based on a mixture of censorship and derogatory treatment. Even the creator of the acronym, the British economist James O’Neill, followed it during the Johannesburg Summit when he said that they had no future.
The West believes that the alliance will collapse because the countries that make it up have too many differences between them. The problem is that it thinks this because of its privative and colonialist mentality, which has made it reject agreements that are not very beneficial to itself. The clearest example is its reluctance to include the great economy that is Turkey in the EU, because of its Islamism.
Russia and China have never had such a close alliance. They have managed to settle their territorial disputes, and the ideological conflicts that fuelled their Cold War enmity are now history. If Moscow has been able to avoid economic sanctions from the US and its European allies, it is because the Chinese have bought its gas and oil.
New pipelines are being built in Siberia to transport them. Presidents Putin and Xi meet every three months, and the Russians are acting as intermediaries to ease tensions between Beijing and New Delhi.
Since you mention India, its presence in the BRICS is also seen as an anomaly by the same specialists we are talking about. Could its friendship with Washington and Brussels be a burden for the emerging powers of the global south?
President Modi knows that the world is changing and that achieving that transformation could bring great benefits to his country. De-dollarisation would be very positive for his economy, and that is why he has begun to sign agreements with other partners in the bloc to exchange local currencies.
Yet China still maintains ties with the West, as it is part of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD), a strategic forum in which it has allied itself with the US, Japan and Australia to counter China’s growing power in the Pacific.
But it knows full well that its approach must be one of double-dealing. India is the world’s most populous state, as well as one of its largest economies, and can only achieve its rightful global position by exerting moderate pressure alongside other southern nations while reducing its dependence on the West.
Brazil and South Africa are two other key countries in BRICS. What roles do they play in the organisation?
The former wants to be the international voice of Latin America, and bases this claim on the demographic, economic and geographic superiority it holds over its neighbours. However, Venezuela aspires to the same position.
That is why Brasilia has vetoed Caracas’ entry into the group. It is concerned about the large oil reserves held by the Venezuelan authorities and its diplomatic conflicts with the United States, which continues to play a leading role in the subcontinent.
On the other hand, South Africa is an emerging economy that is part of the G20, and has enormous political prestige since Nelson Mandela put an end to the apartheid racial minority in the 1990s. If Pretoria has entered the organisation, it is because it is a symbol of the decolonisation of the African continent and because its coasts connect the Indian Ocean with the South Atlantic.
To sum up, although these two countries do not have the geopolitical relevance of Russia or China, they are regional leaders and, therefore, key partners in the construction of a new multipolar world.
Last October, the Russian city of Kazan hosted the forum’s 16th summit. It was attended by around 30 emerging states and the UN Secretary General, António Guterres. How do you assess the results of the meeting?
First of all, it should be noted that the BRICS have become so important that even Guterres decided to attend. So did nations as diverse as Colombia, Thailand, Belarus and Turkey, a fact that attests to the growing power and plurality of the organization.
Another important issue discussed was the presentation of BRICS Pay, a financial communications network similar to the Belgian SWIFT that will allow banks in southern countries to cooperate more effectively and avoid sanctions and pressure from the West. In addition, the supranational entity accepted 13 new partners, including Bolivia, Algeria, Indonesia and Vietnam.
In March last year, China managed to broker the beginning of reconciliation between two bitter enemies: Iran and Saudi Arabia. Tehran has been part of BRICS since January, and Riyadh is in the process of joining it. Will these integrations have any impact on the Middle East?
For a start, they could put a stop to the catastrophic civil war in Yemen, in which both powers are deeply involved. But the US has done everything possible to dynamite this agreement for the prestige it would give Beijing. Indeed, Israel’s genocide in Gaza is yet another element that favours its strategy of destabilisation in the region.
One of the most forceful measures that the BRICS want to implement is, as you said a few minutes ago, to de-dollarise the international financial system. How do they intend to do this?
Gradually, since the world economy still depends heavily on the dollar. Just look at the cases of Cuba or Venezuela, which, despite being enemies of Washington, are still trapped by their financial system.
In this regard, the group’s first decision has been to boost bilateral trade using local currencies. Russia has been doing so out of necessity since 2022, as its attack on Ukraine has led to the blocking of its bank accounts in Europe and the prohibition of its use of the dollar and SWIFT.
Other states hostile to the US, such as China and Iran, have followed suit in order to avoid the same situation. This is why the BRICS members have thought of creating a common virtual currency: the 5R. The problem is that for it to work, the organisation needs to have a common financial architecture. That is why BRICS Pay was created, the foundation on which to build it.
Since 2022, tensions between major global powers have increased to levels similar to those of the worst moments of the Cold War. Right now, the outbreak of an armed confrontation between China, Russia and the US does not seem a remote possibility. What would the BRICS do if this were to occur?
It is clear that we are facing a serious escalation of war. Ukraine and Palestine are not the only theatres of conflict in the world. The rearmament of Taiwan, the increase in the military budget of the partners of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and the signing of the AUKUS Pact by the American, Australian and British governments to direct nuclear submarines against China are clear signs that a possible war is being prepared.
BRICS is not a military alliance, although its members have bilateral, trilateral and quadrilateral relations to address security challenges. For example, the armed forces of Russia, China and Iran held joint exercises in the Middle East a few months ago. However, the forum is not like NATO. Its members are not obliged to defend each other. – Globalter
