BRICS — The Emergence Of A Global Super Alliance
Russian President Vladimir Putin must have realized that this week’s BRICS Summit would be something special when UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres promised to attend. This was no ordinary visit; this was Guterres giving tacit approval to BRICS’ efforts to form a new international organization that would rattle the windows in places like New York, Brussels, and, of course, Washington.
Guterres saw the writing on the wall when leaders of 35 countries, representing nearly half the world’s population, said that this meeting was of vital international importance and that he could not miss it. In addition to the nine BRICS member states (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates), 26 other countries came as visitors to the Summit, with several expressing their desire to join.
Belarus, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Venezuela were among the most significant visitors. Most of Southeast Asia also showed up, including Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Palestine was also there, perhaps looking for recognition from BRICS as an independent country.
Bilateral meetings were held between President Putin and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, where they discussed opportunities for peace in the Middle East. Putin also met with Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, President of Mauritania and head of the African Union, a region with which Russia is establishing extensive military and economic relations. Finally, Putin will meet with several leaders from Southeast Asia, where we can expect to see increasing multinational cooperation and trade.
However, far beyond the significance of who attended, substantive agreements were reached. India and China sat down face-to-face and settled their long-standing border dispute for the first time in four years.
Like any business conference, BRICS presents an opportunity to showcase projects that have been in the development stage for some time.
Egypt and Uzbekistan could announce their plans for their Nuclear Power Plants, which Rosatom, the state-owned Russian Nuclear Power Company, will construct.
https://www.rosatom.ru/en/press-centre/news/-the-russian-federation-and-uzbekistan-sign-an-agreement-on- the-construction-of-a-small-nuclear-powe/
Russia announced a new payment system, the National Payment Card System (NPCS), which will replace Apple Pay and Google Pay online payment systems. Apple and Google/Alphabet blocked Russian accounts after the Ukraine war began.
https://www.rt.com/business/605900-apple-pay-replacement-russia/
BRICS showed off its New Development Bank, a joint effort to fund emerging and developing economies.
Most of the headlines from the Global West center on the potential impact that BRICS will have on the US Dollar’s Status as the World’s Reserve Currency. While that is an important factor and no doubt a negative for the Dollar, this one-dimensional analysis overlooks how BRICS is building new relationships among the nations of the Global South.
It’s doubtful, for instance, that US-based Nuclear Contractors were asked to bid on the current Egyptian project. In 2008, Egypt signed a contract with US-based Bechtel Corporation to provide site selection and a feasibility study for an Egyptian Nuclear Power Plant. Less than a year later, that contract was transferred to Australian-based Worley Ltd., which selected Russian Contractor Rosatom, and the project has been Russian-bound since.
As Russian enterprises sought to divest from the West, Apple Pay and Google Pay lost the Russian App Payment systems. As BRIC relationships are established, we will see whether Apple and Google can maintain their relationships throughout the Global South. I suspect that all the BRICS nations will look to move away from their American Vendors.
As BRICS gains momentum, American companies may find themselves playing defense for existing accounts in the Global South for the first time in years.
As the 2024 BRICS Summit comes to a close, momentum seems to be solidly in its corner. It is reported that 36 countries throughout the Global South remain in Kazan and are requesting to become members of BRICS. Among this group are Turkey and Saudi Arabia, considered essential allies of the West.
Turkey is a member of NATO but not the European Union, while Saudi Arabia has close ties to the United States. Both countries would bring significant assets to BRICS: Turkey, which has one of the largest armies in Eastern Europe, its center as a “gas hub” for distribution throughout Western Asia, and Saudi Arabia, which has vast oil and gas deposits.
In the 80 years since the signing of the Bretton Woods Agreement, the American Financial Hegemony has not faced a challenge as significant as BRICS. Under Vladimir Putin's leadership, Russia is pushing for a commercial and economic organization to match the one established by the United States near the end of World War II.
BRICS is rapidly becoming the de facto alternative to the American-centric financial and economic system that has existed for generations. This is an audacious challenge that America seems slow to recognize.
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