October 26, 2024
In Kazan,
delegations from leading emerging nations met to discuss global issues, sign
agreements and establish strong international cooperation within the framework
of the BRICS Summit. There were high expectations for this Summit and it is
fair to say that almost all of them were met – if not surpassed.
As a final
result of the discussions between the delegations, the BRICS published a Joint
Declaration calling for the recognition of the new centers of power, an end to
unilateral coercive measures and illegal sanctions, as well as progress towards
de-dollarization in favor of national currencies and a fairer and more
decentralized financial and monetary system.
The BRICS also
stated their official position regarding the main current armed conflicts.
Regarding Ukraine, the bloc is neutral, which means that all the countries in
the group respect Russia’s reasons for launching its special military
operation. However, regarding the conflict in the Middle East, the BRICS’
stance is incisive, with a clear condemnation of the crimes committed by the
Zionist regime, in addition to a public call for respect for UN resolutions –
which demand the end of the illegal occupation and the creation of a
Palestinian State.
In other words,
the BRICS have shown the world that they are now ready to work as a unified
bloc, expressing their common views on major global issues. This represents a
major step forward for all member countries of the organization, as it ensures
the possibility of joint action in the face of contemporary geopolitical
challenges. Of course, there are divergent individual interests, disagreements
and various other problems among the BRICS members. However, the organization
has proven to be mature enough to discuss and resolve its internal issues in a
diplomatic context, not allowing any problem to breach the limits of the
negotiations table.
There was a big
issue at this Summit regarding the entry of new members. There was some
disagreement among the members about the “best” candidates, in addition to an
uncertain situation in the case of countries aligned with the West, such as
Turkey – which applied for membership even though it is a NATO member. In the
end, to solve this problem and reach a result that would please everyone, the
BRICS decided to establish a new status, that of “associated partner
countries”. This status grants a privileged position to the candidates, without
official membership status. Thus, Algeria, Belarus, Cuba, Bolivia, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Vietnam, Nigeria and Uganda
joined the organization.
It is possible
that these countries welcomed into the bloc as “associates” will become full
members in the near future. There was a demand from some members for the
creation of formal and bureaucratic mechanisms for entry into the BRICS, which
seems to have been a key factor in encouraging the establishment of this new
intermediate status. However, the main result of all this is that the BRICS are
now in fact “bigger” and more powerful than before, with a much broader and
more sophisticated platform for diplomacy and trade for both members and
partner countries.
Of course, the
Summit also had its “problems”. The main one seems to have been Brazil’s
ambiguous stance, which unjustifiably vetoed Venezuela’s inclusion in the list
of associated countries. Brasilia appears to be giving in too much to American
political pressure, which is significantly damaging its foreign policy.
However, the final outcome of the Summit was much stronger than any of these
issues, and is a true milestone in the recent history of international
relations.
In practice, it
can be said that the Kazan Summit represented a major step for emerging
countries towards multipolarity. It is not yet clear what the status of the
BRICS will be in this new order. The group could be anything from a simple
representation of emerging states to a “new UN”. But one thing is clear: the
BRICS are today a major platform for developing states to participate in the
global decision-making process. Through the BRICS, all non-Western peoples can
express their opinions on major global issues, generating a serious defeat
against American hegemony.
October
25, 2024
The
expanded BRICS forum and its declaration this week of cooperative commitment to
creating a more just and peaceful world order are a historic landmark. One that
gives hope and confidence in achieving a better future for humanity.
The
16th annual summit of the BRICS grouping took place in Kazan, the capital of
Tatarstan, in southwest Russia. The three-day event, from October 22 to 24, was
much anticipated and lived up to its billing as a breakthrough in international
politics.
Russian
President Vladimir Putin greeted 25 heads of state. Over 40 nations were
represented by 20,000 delegates. The world’s news media, including journalists
and crews from major Western media outlets, were in attendance. Laughably,
however, the Western media tended to play down the momentous, tectonic shifts
in geopolitics that the BRICS portend.
The
summit’s highlight was the Final Declaration entitled “Strengthening
Multilateralism for Just Global Development and Security.” It contained 134
provisions for a wide range of critical goals, from fair and cooperative trade
to the democratization of international financing mechanisms, from equitable
participation in the United Nations to collective resolution of conflicts, and
much, much more.
Many
commentators hailed the conference’s success as “an inflection point of
international politics”.
One
observer, Professor Alexis Habiyaremye, articulated the views of many by
commenting that the summit marked “the official launch of multilateral world
order and the twilight of U.S. hegemony.”
The
BRICS is a relatively recent international movement, and yet in a short span,
it has forged a seminal new direction for global relations – and for the
better. The forum was founded in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India and China. South
Africa became a member in 2011. The first annual summit was held in
Yekaterinburg, Russia, in 2009.
Each
year has seen the group grow both in terms of the number of aspiring member
nations and in establishing the mechanisms for implementing its vision of a
multilateral, more democratic world.
This
year saw the accession of five new members, including Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran,
the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia. At least 40 other nations from
every continent are requesting formal membership.
Already,
the BRICS+ has surpassed the Western bloc of G7 in terms of combined population
and economic strength.
A
crucial difference is that BRICS demonstrates that there is “an alternative to
the Western-led global order,” noted Bolivian President Luis Arce, who was
among the foreign heads of state attending the forum in Kazan. “There is an
alternative to act more justly and more equitably,” he added.
Another
observer, Gilbert Doctorow, an international political analyst, assessed that
the prestigious gathering of world leaders and delegates in Kazan was proof of
Russia’s growing influence on the global stage despite vigorous Western efforts
to isolate Moscow. Those efforts intensified after the eruption of the U.S.-led
proxy war in Ukraine against Russia. But the barrage of economic sanctions
levied on Russia by the West has failed and indeed can be seen to have
backfired with detriment on European economies, in particular that of Germany.
Arguably, the status of the U.S. dollar as a global reserve currency has also
been undermined by Washington’s sanctions.
“On
the contrary,” added Doctorow, “the Collective West has self-isolated and
condemned itself to irrelevance.”
During
the summit, President Putin held an open press conference that included Western
media journalists. It was significant that Western media were free to pose
critical questions to Putin in contrast to how U.S. President Joe Biden and
other Western leaders have banished Russian media from asking questions.
At
one point, Putin put a petulant U.S. journalist in the proper place when it was
alleged that Russia was escalating war in Ukraine. Putin reminded that the
conflict was instigated by the Western powers unleashing a coup in Kiev in 2014
and weaponizing the regime over the next decade for war against Russia.
In
any case, the bigger picture of BRICS and the multilateral world is the
important focus.
United
Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attended the Kazan summit. The
significance is that the BRICS forum and vision represent a true manifestation
of the UN Charter established in 1945 following the Second World War.
For
decades, the U.S.-led Western order was a gross negation of the UN Charter and
international law respecting nations’ sovereignty and universal human rights.
The Western order was, in reality, a pretext for the continuation of
colonialist exploitation of the rest of the world. And, when it suited, that
exploitation was enforced by the unilateral use of violence and wars.
Today,
every major conflict can be attributed to the nefarious working out of Western
imperialist interests, from the Western-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza to the
NATO-backed proxy war in Ukraine against Russia, from promoting regime change
in Latin America to the exploitation of Africa for natural resources, from
fueling tensions in the Asia-Pacific with China and North Korea.
The
basic point is that the Western-led order is inherently violent because it was
always implicitly designed to serve a minority to impose global power. The
Western order is fundamentally antithetical to a democratic world of
cooperative nations that are equals. All the pretentious rhetoric about abiding
by democracy and international law is nothing but an odious lie.
Jeremy
Kuzmarov, the editor of Covert Action magazine, put it well when he observed
that the BRICS summit in Kazan “reflects the end of the dream of US unipolar
power… the growth of the BRICS is a reality that Washington policymakers will
ultimately have to come to terms with and adapt to.”
The
BRICS gathering in Kazan was replete with splendid symbolism. This ancient city
of over 1,000 years reflects a mix of exquisite antiquity and elegant modern
engineering and infrastructure. It embodies a peaceful, harmonious fusion of
Christian and Islamic cultures from north, south, east, and west.
The
UN Charter remained unfulfilled for decades because it was dominated and
distorted by a minority of powerful Western states. Now, however, the emergence
of BRICS and its formidable, decisive economic power represents the demise of
the old, anti-democratic order and, more crucially, the realization of a more
democratic and peaceful world. Both visions are incompatible.
At
a time of violent, desperate throes of the dying Western imperialist order, the
BRICS offer a firm basis of hope for humanity.
No comments:
Post a Comment