In essence, this is a Sino-Russian idea, not a Brazilian-Indian one.
Author: Abdul Naser Noorzad, Security and Geopolitics Researcher, specially for Sangar
In the calculations of great powers, the division between the rich North and the poor South has always been a fundamental and demonstrable principle. This is evidenced by historical conflicts, ideological competition between powerful countries, propaganda of violence, arms sales, and the provision of colonial programs under the guise of aid and cooperation to developing countries in the form of the doctrine of new colonialism.
After World War II, the establishment of the East-West bloc and the intense economic and political competition between the former Soviet Union and the United States of America, the process of colonization of poor countries with huge natural and human resources, the division of the rich north and the poor south intensified under the theories of liberalism and communism. But after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the hegemony of the United States, America, eager to absorb the wealth of poor countries, but at the same time possessing huge natural resources, no longer had a competitor.
This process continued for several years in a row to ensure the interests of the United States. However, with the formation of BRICS in 2001, the idea of the exclusive possession of the USA of the world faced serious problems. In fact, BRICS, the Global South, and the construction of a new paradigm of a progressive international order, which we commonly know as the post-polar order, are considered promising ideas for the transformation of the existing unjust order.
Although BRICS, which is better called BRICS Plus, because not only powerful countries such as Russia, China, South Africa, Brazil, and India formed the original idea of this group, but also the membership of new countries such as Iran, UAE, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Turkey (due to India's opposition to Turkey's membership in BRICS was vetoed) is considered a new development in the creation of this paradigm.
BRICS challenges the dominant idea of Western civilization based on the Treaty of Westphalia. Instead, it seeks to distribute privileges fairly, without considering geographical limitations or the Global South, to create unprecedented opportunities in international interactions, whether in the political and economic arena or in the military and security sphere. With the idea of multilateralism, this group seeks to strengthen political and economic paradigms whose main axis and common concern is non-Western thinking.
In this regard, the simultaneous efforts of BRICS-plus to create parallel structures to the Bretton Woods system, such as the Monetary Reserve Fund and the New Development Bank, two main competitors of the IMF and the World Bank, confirm this perception, which should soon be seen as the dollarization plan as the most important action to achieve the goals of this group. In the alternative BRICS plan, instead of Bretton Woods, whose social foundations are borrowed from components such as democracy and human rights, there is room for a plan of state sovereignty in the form of governmental authoritarianism and the imposition of a just order.
BRICS Plus is an idea born of fatigue and exhaustion from the United States' destructive leadership. It is a reaction to the United States' inability to ensure global stability. BRICS Plus tries to create political, economic, and security integration within the SCO, its military arm, like NATO, in the form of an anti-colonialist doctrine.
In the economic sphere, this group has high potential. The economic weight of BRICS is at its limit, which in the long term can contribute to developing a new pole of non-Western thinking in its broadest form and be considered the dominant international thought. According to available information, 46% of the population, 40% of oil reserves, 45% of oil production, 32% of land area, 37% of GDP, 20% of gold reserves at PPP, 32% of gold production, 30% of foreign direct investment, 40% of foreign exchange reserves, 42% of grain production and 40% of grain consumption are accounted for by this group.
But to compete with the existing American order, it still has a long way to go. BRICS faces many challenges, which to some extent have been able to affect the process of greater political and economic convergence within this group. From the lack of political convergence and differences in the political systems of the member countries to the lack of agreement on the pursuit of different goals by members, the existence of territorial and border disputes, the lack of efforts to create a common economic space with fewer customs definitions are some of the problems of this group. BRICS Plus is a group because it still does not have a charter and has not been able to design the desired bodies to achieve its goals.
At the same time, BRICS Plus has been able to achieve some successes, such as the implementation of projects such as the “One Belt, One Road” – China, the creation of the New Development Bank, the creation of the Foreign Exchange Reserve Fund, support for the plan to include India and Brazil in the Security Council, the easternization of global politics in the United Nations, attracting the attention of other countries to apply for membership in this group, the creation of a larger non-Western space, the creation of independent international institutions, an anti-liberal international order, the dollarization plan, attempts to create a single structure that provides loans to needy countries in the poor south.
However, BRICS is a very non-Western structure, with members with different goals and heterogeneous political systems. It is reactive and has not been able to achieve any kind of geopolitical convergence. Its infrastructure still needs the political and economic integration of its members to continue to work.
But at the same time, it makes it clear that it is necessary to create a pole that requires great efforts to be equal to its rival, the United States. This structure is trying to convey the message of liberation from modern colonialism to the people of the poor South or, in their opinion, the Global South, to ensure justice and to make more efforts to create parallel economic structures.
BRICS Plus is essentially an idea of China and Russia, not an idea of Brazil and India, which are trying to balance their relations with the US and the East. If BRICS continues the current trend and maintains its achievements, it can be considered a very influential structure in the future of international interactions.
