Yi Shaoxuan
Research Assistant of Center for Turkish Studies at Shanghai University
On October 22-24, 2024, the 16th BRICS leaders’ meeting was held in Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan. Russia hosted leaders or representatives of more than 30 countries and six international organizations, including United Nations Secretary-General Guterres. The meeting adopted the Kazan Declaration, whose 134-long entries assess and look forward to the world in the areas of politics and security, economy and finance, culture and humanistic exchanges. South African President Ramaphosa praised the BRICS countries, saying that their historic expansion is a beacon of hope for the Global South. From “beacon of freedom and democracy” to “beacon of hope”, the world landscape has quietly changed.
What makes this BRICS Summit so attractive and appealing?
The Kazan Summit has three special backgrounds. From the perspective of the world pattern, the old order has been shaken, and the world system is in urgent need of a redistribution of institutional power. This is manifested in the following aspects: politically, the old “center-periphery” international order formed after World War II has put the countries of the Global South in an unfavorable position. In terms of security, the Russia-Ukraine war and the Middle East chaos have become a knot that is hard to untie, while small-scale terrorist attacks occur from time to time. Economically, the United States and the West are engaged in the tactics of “Decoupling” and “friendshoring”, wielding the big stick of tariffs and sanctions to force countries around the world to “pick a side”. The stress of deglobalization has hindered the smooth flow of the global supply chain. When it comes to scientific and cultural communication, the maneuver of “small yards, high fence” has blocked the path of scientific and technological upward mobility of developing countries such as China. In essence, as Deng Xiaoping, China’s second-generation leader, pointed out, peace and development remain the world’s two main themes, but none of the problems have been solved.
From the perspective of the BRICS countries themselves, starting in 2024, the “Brick” have had a “heavier weight” and “higher purity”. This summit is the first summit after the expansion of the BRICS, in the “Grand BRICS year”. In January this year, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Ethiopia officially participated in the BRICS cooperation, the number of BRICS member countries continue to expand. The total population of the expanded BRICS group is about 3.5 billion, accounting for 45% of the world’s population. After the expansion, the share of BRICS in the global economy rose to about 37%, surpassing the G7 and the European Union (14.5%). According to the BRICS Wealth Report released in January of this year, the BRICS group now holds a total of $45 trillion in investable wealth and currently produces about 44% of the world’s crude oil.
From the perspective of the host country, Russia has been at the center of a noisy dispute since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022. This is the first time Russia has hosted a global summit since then. The tremendous scale of the summit manifested that the Russia side had put great emphasis on this event. Against the backdrop of President Putin’s clear statement that he will not attend other important forums and events such as the G20 summit in Brazil, the summit in Kazan is undoubtedly an excellent opportunity to understand and explore Russia’s current strategic considerations and priorities. According to Russian presidential assistant Ushakov, the summit is divided into a large-scale meeting and a small-scale meeting. In the former one, leaders will assess cooperation in the economic and trade spheres and summarize the results of collaboration in culture and humanities; while in the latter one, delegations will study the most pressing issues on the global agenda and exchange views on the topic of BRICS cooperation in the international arena. This includes discussion of a range of acute regional conflicts, including, of course, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. China, India and Brazil have called for the resolution of the Ukrainian conflict through dialog, while the Kremlin has said that it accepts mediation by the three aforementioned countries. In addition, as is the tradition at BRICS summits, each summit is also heavily colored by the host country. The summits have a “BRICS Outreach” program, where the BRICS presidency invites its neighbors to participate in BRICS activities. South Africa invited all African leaders last year, and Russia invited CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries this year. This is a good reference for Russia’s regionalism policy.
What are the noteworthy highlights of the Kazan summit?
The Global South’s attempts to establish a new economic order. With the weaponization of the dollar payment system, the countries of the Global South have suffered from sanctions and differentiated treatment by unfair rules. The established New Development Bank (NDB) is what BRICS offers current and future member countries to make up for the shortcomings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. It also achieves that the founders remain equal shareholders and have an equal voice. Host Russia values the launch of the BRICS Cross-Border Payments Initiative (BCBPI), which is not controlled by the United States and is settled in national or neutral currencies, as an alternative to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) financial settlement system. Such move is to safeguard its own financial sovereignty and financial security. In fact, Russia and Iran have already developed and connected similar systems for handling financial messaging. Currently more than 60% of trade between Russia and Iran is conducted in their own currencies. By the end of 2023, Russia’s share of local currency settlements with the BRICS countries jumped to 85% from 26% two years ago. The declaration also proposes to discuss and study the feasibility of establishing a BRICS Clear (BRICS Securities Depository and Clearing Infrastructure) on the basis of voluntary participation by all parties to complement the existing financial market infrastructure. This would pose a constraint on the use of the dollar as a weapon.
The rise of non-Western centers of power. We note the emergence of new centres of power, policy decision-making and economic growth, which can pave the way for a more equitable, just, democratic and balanced multi-polar world order. Chinese President Xi Jinping pointed out at the BRICS+ Leaders Dialogue on 24th that the rise of the “Global South” as a group is a distinctive symbol of the world’s great changes. “The common march of the Global South towards modernization is a major event in world history and unprecedented in the course of human civilization.” In fact, the members of BRICS have repeatedly criticized, openly or subtly, the hegemony and power politics of the United States and the West, and have spoken many times of “systemic discrimination”. They want to emphasize their own values rather than be forced to accept the ideas of others; they want to be participants and makers of rule of justices. Some 30 countries in the Global South have expressed interest in joining the BRICS mechanism. If all these countries were able to participate in BRICS cooperation in some way , the population of the BRICS countries would probably account for more than 65% of the world’s total population. In that case, the BRICS’ international influence would be significantly increased, the realizing of a new, just, rational, and egalitarian international political order will be highly probable.
China-Russia cooperation. China took over the presidency after the SCO summit in July this year and will host the summit next year. Russia, on the other hand, will take over the chairmanship of the SCO Heads of Government (Prime Ministers) Council in Islamabad. In the past two years, China and Russia take turns to hold the rotating presidency to in important groups in the Global South, such as the BRICS and the SCO. This situation is of great significance to the construction of a new world order. China and Russia are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. The two, if they can form a synergy, will open a breakthrough for the world system change. Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a meeting with media leaders of the BRICS countries on the 18th that “Russia-China cooperation is one of the key factors of world stability” and that the two countries “have established a unique relationship”, which is rich in content and trustworthy. In the changes unseen in a century, the further cooperation between China and Russia and their impact on the world system is worth paying attention to.
What is the future direction of BRICS after the Kazan summit?
The BRICS will make it a priority to realize the economic development that the countries of the Global South so desperately need. According to a Russian political scientist quoted by Reference News in China, “the West confuses politics with economics, while in the BRICS cooperation mechanism, people do not discuss the domestic politics of a country.” This is in line with the idea of the Global Development Initiative (GDI) put forward by President Xi Jinping in his address to the 76th United Nations General Assembly in 2021—Staying committed to development as a priority. The right to development is a human right that cannot be ignored. Development is the simplest aspiration and the rightful entitlement of the peoples of the Global South. It should never be realized solely on the premise of the solving of some political problem. Development should come with no political conditions attached.
BRICS is essentially an economic organization, which is what makes it attractive to most countries in the world. The Russian Foreign Ministry said on December 12 that “BRICS has never been a military alliance and will not become one in the future.” ; “It is absurd to compare the BRICS even theoretically with the aggressive military bloc NATO. NATO has done nothing but invasions and destruction of security around the world during the decades of its existence.” According to Dmitry Yegorchenkov, Director of the Institute of Strategic Studies and Forecasts of RUDN University, the BRICS countries do not need a NATO-style alliance. They cooperate in the field of fighting terrorism, drug trafficking and crime. And in the field of security, the interests within the BRICS countries are diverse among themselves and do not always coincide.
BRICS will expand rationally. Although the BRICS countries still welcome new partners on the basis of ensuring the effectiveness of the mechanism, the decision to expand will be made more cautiously after the new “Grand BRICS” situation in January this year. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov revealed in June this year, the BRICS countries, with an “overwhelming majority” voted to temporarily suspend the expansion of members, in order to ‘digest’ new members.
The 2024 BRICS summit in Kazan has come to an end, signaling new shifts and dynamics. How BRICS can ensure a steady course with the effective functioning of the mechanism is a question worth pondering. However, there is no doubt that the summit is destined to be an important meeting in the development process of the BRICS organization. In particular, the great unity and cooperation of the Global South will certainly have an important and far-reaching historical impact.
