BRICS has yet again demonstrated its paramount importance as an institution by gathering the significant economies of the world and strengthening the multipolar world.
Simon Westwood
Introduction
India as the BRICS Chair
Members were able to agree to language calling for maximum restraint, de-escalation, and the protection of civilians and the continuation of the international flow of energy and trade
India’s presidency showcases India’s growing ambition. New Delhi has showcased its innovations and sustainability by bringing together eleven prominent emerging and developing economies, under the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation, and Sustainability.” During the summit, the BRICS countries addressed various issues spanning from economic cooperation and trade to payment systems and mechanisms, and energy and technology, to further collaboration and the reform of global governance, while addressing geopolitical tensions sparked by the Middle East and Ukraine.
Although, it is not uncommon to describe BRICS as an “anti-Western” grouping, this should not be the only or primary reading of BRICS. India has many strategic partnerships with the U.S. and the Europe. Brazil and South Africa also wish to engage both Western and Eastern powers. China and Russia are more interested in asking for rebalancing within the West. Some of the other members also seek their own type of strategic autonomy. BRICS therefore, does not have the same sort of ideological alignment as we would expect of a traditional alliance. It is this absence of ideological sameness that gives BRICS its value and makes it an important example of a multipolar world.
BRICS for a Multipolar World
A multipolar world does not mean that we trade Washington for Beijing or that we change one hierarchy for another. This means that numerous, mutual centres of economic, political, and diplomatic powers will coexist. BRICS provides a structure or framework for countries that have hitherto been devoid of, or possessed limited ability to, shape the rules of world governance, to speak as one without the need to be in full agreement on all issues of great power politics.
This is relevant as the distribution of economic power has changed more rapidly than the architecture of global governance. The institutions formed after the World War II continue to be important, however, debates on representation in the UN Security Council, IMF, World Bank among others, continue to be relevant. Developing countries demand more representation in international decision-making based on their growing economic and demographic importance. BRICS makes this demand.
The formation of the New Development Bank (NDB) was a key step in this direction. Criticising existing institutions is easy, but BRICS actually went ahead and formed a new institution focused on financing the development of infrastructure and sustainable development. It is not necessary that the NDB was formed with the aim of replacing the World Bank or other institutions. A new financial institution is always welcome. It also has the potential to improve and widen the focus of development financing and encourage other institutions to be more inclusive. The same logic can be used to frame the discussion on the US dollar.
The World Needs a New International Currency
The discussion on the efforts made by BRICS countries on national currency settlements and other payment systems should not be perceived as a dollar replacement. An alternative to the dollar would require an entirely new financial system and supporting institutions, which cannot be achieved by a political statement.
What BRICS is actually doing is currency diversification and financial resilience. India has pushed for more local currency transactions and for massive improvement in the connectivity of payment systems among the BRICS countries, with even some proposals related to Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). For nations that are subject to the challenges of volatile exchange rates, sanctions, or disruptions of international payment systems, developing supplementary options is a good strategy. In finance, multipolarity does not mean the elimination of the dollar, but the reduction of the reliance on any one currency or one institutional chain of international economic transactions.
BRICS as a Platform for Multilateralism
The New Delhi summit has also demonstrated another important function of BRICS, which is diplomatic convening. The Middle East is a good example. BRICS includes some of the most disparate countries in terms of their strategic interests. However, members were able to agree to language calling for maximum restraint, de-escalation, and the protection of civilians and the continuation of the international flow of energy and trade. Despite the Arabian Gulf’s many competing interests, both Iran and the United Arab Emirates supported the declaration, while representatives of both countries also met for talks.
Although BRICS does not have a collective security framework to end great power wars, for example, and some of its members directly contradict and criticise others, diplomacy should not be solely about whether a summit results in the cessation of a great power war. In an international system that has become characterized by fragmentation, keeping adversaries talking has value in and of itself.
The participation of Chinese President Xi Jinping in the summit adds more importance to the event. His visit to India is the first such visit since 2019. There have been several years of spikes in the India-China relationship post the 2020 confrontation along their border. India and China remain strategic competitors with unresolved border disputes and a lot of mutual distrust. However, signs of recent cautious diplomatic engagement illustrate the characteristics of multipolar politics, which embraces competition and cooperation simultaneously.
However, BRICS has its fair share of problems. Practical solutions to broaden the sphere of influence of the organization create fissures in the block. China and India have their own diverging strategic interests. Russia, in the meantime, is engaged in its own war in Ukraine. Members in the Middle East do not have the same interests. Economic systems, types of Governance, political institutions, and foreign policies differ vastly. Achieving consensus among such a disparate group will be difficult. For BRICS to achieve the level of consensus exhibited by NATO or the European Union would be a mistake.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attended the summit. President Putin said, “BRICS countries continue to deepen their interaction in all key areas. This concerns politics and security, the economy and finance, as well as the cultural and humanitarian spheres.” He said that “the IMF, the WTO, and the World Bank remain important platforms for dialogue among the world’s leading economies, so it is essential to strengthen coordination among our countries within these institutions.” These words indicate the BRICS is willing to work with international organizations for the betterment of international relations. These words are the true reflection of the New Delhi Declaration.
Conclusion
The significance of BRICS is best described as the attempt to construct a new international order based on the principles of ‘pluralism.’ It provides a platform to emerging and developing countries for negotiated cooperation and demands for systemic reforms. As many commentators have said, BRICS would not have to replace Western structures to alter the balance of powers. With the present concentration of powers, a major change would have occurred. That is why the New Delhi summit is so important.
The major notion of the current century is not whether the international system will become multipolar. That transition is well under way. The important thing is whether newly emerging powers will construct systems to govern the managing of the differences between them and to create meaningful cooperation.
BRICS isn’t without its shortcomings or issues. And, frankly, it is unfinished. That said, those shortcomings don’t diminish its importance. They make it a remarkably adept representation of the emerging world. That world is comprised of many different competing powers that are integrated and resistant to being dominated by a single power. BRICS IS important because multipolarity requires institutions. And, as it stands, BRICS is one of those institutions. This is why BRICS matters for the emerging multipolar world.
Simon Westwood, Research Fellow at the Department of History, Dublin City University (DCU), Ireland
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