BRICS breaks the hegemony of the West

 Vladimir Odintsov

According to a growing number of analysts in various countries around the world, the liberal world order that was established on the planet after the end of the Cold War in the interest of the United States is crumbling before our eyes and is definitely doomed.

The Economist magazine, which is owned by the Rothschild family – the main bankers of the British financial system – has published its famous forecast cover for the next year, entitled The World ahead 2023, showing the most important people who will determine the world in 2023. The portraits of the politicians are not the same size in this case, reflecting their different share in world politics. And in this regard, it is worth noting that the portraits of Xi and Putin are the largest ones. Moreover, Putin is in the middle and the other heads of state are in a circle around him, clearly symbolizing that Russia remains at the center of world politics and will continue to play a crucial role in global processes.

As former US intelligence officer Scott Ritter said in an interview with Judging Freedom, the United States is afflicted with the disease of “national arrogance,” Washington’s desire to dictate its terms has made the other countries weary.

The rules and norms established by Washington after World War II no longer govern the planet as they once did, The Hill notes. The instruments that prohibit aggression against other countries have been violated. The institutions that govern the global economy are teetering and collapsing under the weight of successive financial crises. Even regional organizations touted by the West as models of stability, such as NATO and the European Union, are being torn apart by unprecedented centrifugal forces. A new system of international relations is being put in place, one that takes into account not only the interests of other great powers such as China, India, and Russia, but also the interests of states that wish to pursue policies independent of the United States and the West.

Therefore, no one was surprised by Brazilian Foreign Minister Carlos Alberto France’s statement on the sidelines of the G20 summit that developing countries, including Brazil, have the right to take an independent stand on all issues of world politics.

Turkey’s Cumhuriyet writes that the G20 is becoming obsolete and the BRICS is confidently filling the scene. At the same time, the publication emphasizes that the lion’s share of goods on the world market is already outside the hegemony of the West, its isolation is obvious, de-dollarization has become the main trend promoted by this association, which has noticeably increased its influence recently.

More and more countries are showing interest in the BRICS, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. As of today, the BRICS association represents 41% of the world population, 24% of GDP and 16% of world trade.

Obviously, this association will transform into BRICS+ very soon. This is evidenced in particular by the already announced intentions of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Iran, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Algeria, Egypt, Senegal and a number of other countries to join. At the 14th BRICS summit, chaired by China via videoconference in June, one of the events was held in the BRICS+ format, attended by representatives of 18 states. In addition to the top five, Algeria, Argentina, Cambodia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Fiji, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Senegal, Thailand, and Uzbekistan participated in the event.

Algeria’s interest in joining the BRICS group was announced by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune in early August. According to the head of state, the country’s accession will help prevent APDR from being drawn into “bipolar conflicts” Algeria’s membership in BRICS will allow the country to better develop reciprocal tourism with Russia, trade in agricultural products, implementation of projects in the field of nuclear energy and other areas.

In recent years, the discussion on the necessity for Turkey to acquire full membership in BRICS has become commonplace in Turkish political circles. According to the Turkish media, this issue is gaining importance not only due to the normalization of political, military and economic relations with Russia. We must not forget that Turkey’s application to join the EU is still “under consideration” since 1987; trampling on the doors of the European Union for 35 years (!) has been quite annoying for the Turks. Furthermore it looks like an open humiliation of the Turks by the West. Ankara’s reaction in April of this year, when an EU delegation came to Turkey and Erdoğan defiantly did not provide a chair for the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is not surprising. He left her only a seat on the couch for common translators.

Besides, it is no secret that people in Turkey are not enthusiastic about NATO. Among them, the idea of leaving this alliance and criticism of the United States and NATO is gaining popularity. Turkey does not forgive being neglected by the alliance, especially after it participated in the joint development of the costly US F-35 fighter and started producing some components for it. However, the US refused to supply the Turks not only with the F-35 but also with codes for its missile defense and air defense systems, forcing the Turkish leader to choose other external points of reference and turn to Vladimir Putin with the purchase of Russian S-400s.

While US allies in Europe are trying to adopt Russophobic positions and defend the neo-Nazi regime in Ukraine, other countries are increasingly advocating a radical revision of the international order, a departure from the unipolar world imposed by Washington, thus expressing their support for Russian policy. As the Bulgarian Diary rightly noted, more and more countries today want to be directly represented at the international negotiating table and not just be on the menu, because they have the power and ambition to influence their regions. Their aspirations to join the BRICS show that, faced with an unprecedented increase in geopolitical risks, the world is rapidly becoming aware of the need to replace the old US-centered architecture of world order with a new configuration of international relations and regional blocs based on equality and consideration of mutual interests. Today, it is already clear everywhere that the unipolar model of global governance imposed by the West is not up to the task, its financial structures are running low, and these structures actually serve only the interests of the ruling elites of the industrialized countries.

And if we take into account the harmonization of the policies and actions of the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) with the BRICS, we can say that already more than half of the world’s population and the lion’s share of the world’s goods are outside the hegemony of the United States and the West.

Vladimir Odintsov, political observer, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook.”