BRICS: Here is when we will know something on the financial and economic work.

During its BRICS presidency this year, Russia has said it will focus on “promoting the entire range of partnership and cooperation within the framework of the association on three key tracks:

• politics and security,
• the economy and finance,
• cultural and humanitarian ties.

The most critical issue is the economy and finance.  The second is security.

We’ve seen many BRICS meetings take place during the course of this year and I remember the Johannesburg summit very clearly.  It was the summit where new members were taken in and BRICS  doubled in size.  It is also the meeting that almost fell apart as a result of two controversial issues.

These were:

1) Brazil’s LULA insisted on inviting Argentina as a BRICS member and would not give way.  We saw the results of that call and Argentina told the BRICS grouping to go and pound sand.  I can understand what LULA tried to accomplish.  He wanted South America to be the biggest in BRICS.  Taking a look at the map makes that clear.

Saudi Arabia did not join immediately but little was said about that.  In mid-January 2003, it stated that it had not joined.   At the end of January 2003, Nalendi Pandor, foreign minister of South Africa announced that these five countries are now part of BRICS: Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with effect from 1 January 2024.  It is unclear what the issue was at the time.

Shortly after that, Mr Lavrov announced that BRICS would slow-walk the take-in of new members and BRICS organized an alternative tier for prospective BRICS members.  The organization of that alternative tier has not clarified.  With the controversial issues from the Johannesburg summit, it is a wise decision.  Much time and energy was devoted this past year in taking in the five new members.

Despite the lack of real BRICS information, conversation on BRICS was not limited in my sphere during this year.  With the limited information about BRICS, the controversies from Johannesburg still in memory, the fact that LULA is not as strong as we had hoped for and a genocide in West Asia, it remains to be seen from the summit if BRICS lost some of its steam or perhaps its sexiness.  30+ Countries want to be members, but some of them have not even completed their documentation.    There are many more that want to join the economic system, which we do not have yet.

It is today my very sad duty to say it as it is.  BRICS has lost some of its effervescence and there are incisive questions being asked that need to be answered in the forthcoming summit.  This is not to lose hope.  This is a caution that we need to be as critical as with anything else in our world today.    Mr. Lavrov stated at one stage that BRICS at the moment is like a club.  My comment is:  “Mr Lavrov, we love you!  We admire your ability.  In our eyes you are a rock star in our world.  But a club?”    For us, BRICS is the organization in our hopes and dreams that will change the trajectory of our world.  It may even become the next United Nations.  Could we be somewhat more serious please.  Could you appoint a secretariat so that we have someone to talk to?  You do not have to create a new structure as you already have it:

Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Ryabkov Holds Briefing on Preparations for 16th BRICS Summit

Two sentences from a briefing seems very scant to me.  Then two comments from conversations over the past months with serious BRICS researchers come to mind:

What?  They are holding a fashion show?  What is this?  We have a world in travail and BRICS is throwing a fashion show!  (Before I get educated on this, yes, it was a comment from a woman and we do understand issues of cross-border trading and cultural and humanitarian ties.)

and

The BRICS hoped-for currency is in a mess.

This is as I see it today.  BRICS needs to get serious pretty damn fast.

Looking at the serious side, BRICS established or laid foundations in this last year for:

• decoupling from US agriculture with a grain exchange,
• new logistic centres,
• transportation infrastructure,
• development banks (under development),
• insurance systems,
• native technologies and digital platforms,
• de-dollarisation, and the partial abandonment of the SWIFT transaction system
• a well-supported and successful BRICS games.

(And a fashion show!)

The benefits for Russia, China and other partners include greater food security, cheaper exchanges, and less reliance on an inflated and weaponized US dollar.

Those are real and very welcome initiatives.

I do not know if this is a BRICS task, but we have members, countries, that are still supplying certain commodities to israel.  Coal in the case of South Africa and oil in other cases.  Countries within BRICS as a whole cannot support a genocide.  I do hope, even on the sidelines or quietly, this will be discussed and that trade refocused to BRICS members.  There was one comment by the Russian BRICS sherpa, Sergey Ryabkov, that BRICS countries cannot and may not place sanctions on one another.

Finally VIVA BRICS!  Let us sit on them to create that which we need and want in our world.  That is our part.

Here is a listing of the declarations made during the year:  https://brics-russia2024.ru/en/docs/