BRICS Declares Support for Africa's Development, Africa Joins BRICS Against Western Dominance and Political Influence - Global Research
Global ResearchSep 02, 2023
The Facts
On Tuesday, leaders of the BRICS nations met in Johannesburg where, according to South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor, they agreed on expanding membership. The bloc already represents 40% of the globe's population and around 25% of the world's GDP.
The 15th BRICS conference brings together South African Pres. Cyril Ramaphosa, Indian PM Narendra Modi, and Brazilian Pres. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is standing in for Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin while China's Pres. Xi Jinping unexpectedly pulled out of addressing the summit, despite having already flown to Johannesburg.
The Spin
Establishment-critical narrative
The agenda of the BRICS foreign ministers meeting in the run-up to the August summit has underscored that the era of unipolarity and the West's hypocritical "liberal world order" is coming to an end. This is reflected in BRICS' efforts to "de-dollarize" and in the fact that their collective Gross Domestic Product already exceeds that of the US-led G7. The BRICS countries' refusal to join the proxy war against Russia is further proof of a new confidence gaining momentum among nations of the global south.
Pro-establishment narrative
Despite all the BRICS hype — and the supposedly imminent end of the US-led global economic order — the reality is more complex. The bloc's composition is primarily characterized by geopolitical and economic rivalries that make the creation of a common currency extremely difficult, a challenge that is likely to be exacerbated by adding more members. The fact that South Africa is flirting with the war criminal Putin, thus antagonizing its second-largest trading partner the US, bodes additionally poorly for the future of BRICS.
