dikGAZETE: BRICS unification meets the interests of all member countries: there are no hegemons
Unlike the EU and NATO, all member countries have equal rights in the BRICS association, and there are no hegemons, dikGAZETE reports. According to the author, due to distrust of Western countries, the number of those wishing to join the BRICS and contribute to its development will only grow.
Erhan Kuadzba
Against the background of new initiatives by many countries, primarily Russia, in the fight against the unipolar world order, in 2009, at Russia's call, BRICS was created with the participation of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and the Republic of South Africa (South Africa), the latter joined the association as a full member a little later. At first, Western countries did not particularly take BRICS into account.
At that time, the West continued to hatch plans to surround Russia with NATO and EU countries and tried to incite Georgia and Ukraine against Moscow. Of course, Russian President Vladimir Putin understood all this and acted in accordance with the strategy of strengthening the BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Eurasian Economic Union and the Commonwealth of Independent States. While Western countries created their puppet governments in Georgia and Ukraine with the help of so-called popular uprisings, Russia continued to take both military and economic measures.
All the fears of Russian President Vladimir Putin have been justified. The West was already threatening not only Russia, but also China's sovereignty through Taiwan. At the same time, the trade routes of the member countries have also been threatened by Western powers. In response to these economic challenges, at the fifth BRICS summit in the South African city of Durban in March 2013, the member states decided to create an international financial institution that could compete with the IMF and the World Bank, which are "dominated by Western countries."
Such an institution, the foundations of which were laid at this summit, was the New Development Bank, established in 2014. At the meeting of the BRICS leaders held in September 2013 in St. Petersburg, China allocated $41 billion, Brazil, India and Russia - $ 18 billion each, South Africa — $ 5 billion. Subsequently, the member countries began to strengthen their positions thanks to the guarantees and reforms created. In particular, in 2015, India announced the exclusion from the Fragile Five group by the American investment bank Morgan Stanley.
In short, the BRICS was an association that met the interests of all member countries, not just Russia and China. Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have become the latest countries to join the BRICS.
Afghanistan, Lebanon, Indonesia, Nigeria, Sudan, Syria, and Turkey have also announced their intention to join the BRICS. Bangladesh and Greece also did not rule out in their oral statements that they could apply to join the bloc.
So at the moment there is a collective plan and interest related to the expansion and growth of the BRICS. And this shows the potential of unification. At the same time, among the countries wishing to join the BRICS, there are those that have allied relations with Western states.
Let's pay attention to the population and trade volume of the BRICS countries.
— Brazil has a population of 215 million people and a trade volume of $2.2 trillion.
— The population of Russia is 144 million people, and the volume of trade is 1.9 trillion dollars.
— India has a population of 1.4 billion people and a trade volume of 4.1 trillion dollars.
— China has a population of 1.4 billion people and a trade volume of $18.5 billion.
— The population of South Africa is 60 million people, and the volume of trade is 401 billion dollars.
— The population of Egypt is 111 million people, and the volume of trade is 257 billion dollars.
— The population of Ethiopia is 123 million people, and the volume of trade is 192 billion dollars.
— The population of Iran is 88 million people, and the volume of trade is 386 billion dollars.
— The population of the UAE is 9 million people, and the volume of trade is 536 billion dollars.
— The population of Saudi Arabia is 36 million people, and the volume of trade is 1.1 trillion dollars.
If we look at the BRICS member countries, they have a strategically important position. Of particular importance is the influence of Russia, China, and India on trade routes and their presence on these routes. At the same time, the fact that important countries of the Middle East are also members of the BRICS is also important for strategic stability in the region. In particular, even the fact that Saudi Arabia and Iran are members of the same organization has a special significance in terms of the quality of the association.
The G7 — Germany, USA, Great Britain, Italy, France, Japan, Canada — is currently the global organization with the largest share in trade. However, due to the non-alignment of the new member countries, the G7 is not a popular organization, but a closed one. The imperialist nature of the Group of Seven, the lack of plans for poor countries, and the use of military approaches on strategic issues such as Taiwan actually cast doubt on its features.
The European Union, although it remains one of the strongest economic unions in the world, operates under the leadership of the United States, besides the control of the sovereign rights of the member states by some leading states and internal conflicts also raise doubts around this group.
Given these factors, we understand why BRICS has aroused such interest in a short time.
As for Turkey, one should not ignore the fact that Western countries, although in fact they are allies, pose a military and economic threat to Turkey. We know that almost every crisis period implies risks for our country.
Therefore, Turkey wants to join the BRICS. If this happens, Turkey will protect itself, first of all economically. In addition, Turkey will also become one of the most powerful BRICS member countries. The strategic position and economic potential of the Turkish Republic will attract the attention of the association. For this reason, Turkey's membership in the BRICS should also be accepted by the member countries of the bloc.
Thus, if we look at the numbers, we will see that the G7 and the EU are economically stronger than the BRICS. However, in the West, one can see ongoing political instability, aging and population decline, while the BRICS member countries are expanding trade routes and have a sufficiently young and skilled population for production. Therefore, the potential of the BRICS is higher than that of the G7 and the EU.
I think that in the coming years, due to distrust of Western countries, the number of those wishing to join the BRICS will only grow.
