My Take | BRICS of today also a matter of global politics, not just economics
- Bloc members may have different regimes, ideologies and religions, but they share a deep resentment of Western dominance and US hegemony
A Goldman Sachs economist came up with the acronym BRIC back in 2001 because he thought Brazil, Russia, India and China would be the emerging economies that would reshape the global economy, or at least the investment world. A few years after that, it became BRICS, as South Africa was added to it.
If the term was never invented, someone would probably come up with it today, but he or she would likely be a political scientist or international relations specialist rather than an economist. Today, the BRICS nations have a lot in common in ways that were not obvious more than two decades ago, both economically and politically.
Let’s start with international politics. The countries have stayed friendly and even strengthened economic ties since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine more than a year ago. The other four members have all been buying cheap oil and gas as Moscow faces unprecedented Western sanctions, and taken a neutral stance on the war. India, China and South Africa have also conducted controversial military exercises with Russia in the past year.
When asked why, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar responded with a comment on Western arrogance: “Europe’s problems are the world’s problems, but that the world’s problems are not Europe’s problems.”
The proxy war in Ukraine supported by the United States and Nato has especially driven the BRICS closer as an economic and political bloc. They are accelerating their drive to become a serious economic and political force.
One big reason is that unprecedented Western sanctions against Moscow have scared all of them. In response, they – and others – are working together to counter the Western dominance of the global financial system, and especially the US dollar hegemony.
The five countries have agreed to pool the equivalent of US$100 billion for emergencies and an infrastructure bank that can quickly approve more than US$30 billion in loans for water, transport and other infrastructure needs.