Yesterday the BRICS summit began in Johannesburg, South Africa. This is a high-level meeting between the leaders of this most important group of emerging economies in the world. Although the meeting gains strength due to the very nature of its participants, it also harbours interesting and unavoidable frictions between the countries involved. What is the impact for the international relations?
The BRICS group, conformed by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, has gained a lot of popularity and presence on the global stage. Since its creation around 15 years ago, it has been a symbol of the power of what is conceived as the “Global South”. The five countries portray the rise of powers outside the Western sphere, promoting the importance that should be given to forgotten regions of the international system.
Perhaps earlier, in their early formative years, the BRICS were not an attractive group of power and influence in the world. However, today, after several years and changes in the globe, they are an overwhelming alternative to the West that has attracted many countries inside and outside of Western influence, such as Argentina, Bangladesh, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Nigeria, to name a few, who have applied for membership into the quintet of emerging powers.
This is precisely one of several issues currently being discussed at the summit in Johannesburg. It always takes on a relevant space in the agendas of the leaders who participate, but now it is one of the points of greatest friction due to the difference in positions and interests they have. It is true that the five countries remain suspicious of the expansion of their group since it would mean sharing the power, influence, leverage, and brand of the BRICS, so their selection must be careful and strategic, besides consensual.
However, on the other hand, it is a natural interest of the BRICS to make sure that their group can grow in order to continue strengthening their spirit of being an alternative to the international system and a counterweight to the West. But it is precisely the selection of the new members that generates friction between the five countries. While China keeps its eyes on nations far from Western powers, India takes a more measured position, striving for more balanced integration between the two poles of power.
Despite the dialogues that have been held between senior officials at the summit, it seems difficult to reach a consensus on which path to follow to expand the group. But that is not the only reason for tension in this new meeting of the BRICS. Of the leaders of the group, the absentee is President Vladimir Putin, whom in the end preferred not to travel to South Africa to avoid creating a conflict to the government of Cyril Ramaphosa.
We must remember that the International Criminal Court, of which South Africa is a signatory, has issued an arrest warrant against Putin for alleged war crimes. In this context, the fact that Pretoria has not guaranteed the legality of the Russian president’s attendance at the summit speaks of the closeness that is still strong enough between the West and South Africa. An alternative would have been to reject a global governance instrument in the matter of international law. Hence, the decision is crystal clear on behalf of Ramaphosa and its position within the international system.
The latter shows that the BRICS are not yet in a position to fully challenge the West, its institutions and the international system forged to date. However, despite the existing tensions between the quintet of emerging nations, the summit is crucial both to continue directing their collective efforts and their respective areas of influence towards a counterweight to the Western powers, and to fuel their progress in the construction of an alternative world order. Their development in this regard is significant. We have to bear in mind this: 15 years ago, the group had a limited weight in the world, but today it has been able to bother the international establishment. What will the future hold for them in five, ten or twenty years?
