Norway has several common interests with the Brics countries, believes Nupi researcher Cedric de Coning.
Putin attended the summit in Johannesburg online. He cannot attend physically as South Africa is obliged to apprehend him due to the war in Ukraine. Photo: Jerome Delay, AP / NTB
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Published: 22/08/2023 22:56
Updated: 22/08/2023 23:29
The three-day summit started on Tuesday Brics: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The meeting takes place in one of the latter’s capitals, Johannesburg.
The political and economic cooperation in the Brics group is not something to be trifled with. Together, 42 percent of the world’s population lives in these five countries. And they account for a quarter of the world’s gross domestic product.
Nevertheless, the group has not attracted much international attention in the 14 years it has existed. For now.
– Here the war in Ukraine plays a central role, says Cedric de Coning. He is a researcher at the NupiNupiNorsk foreign policy institute.
There are clearer tensions between major powers today than just a few years ago, he believes.
The heads of state, except Putin, were in place in Johannesburg today. From left: Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Chinese President Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service / AP / NTB
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Now the five founders will discuss whether the club should expand for the first time since South Africa was admitted in 2011.
Over 40 countries are said to have shown interest, and 23 have sent a formal application, according to the report Reuters.
Countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Argentina and Kazakhstan are on the applicant list.
– It seems almost certain that they will start processes to take in new members now, says De Coning.
Want a new global order
Brics wants to be a counterweight to international forums and groups led by Western countries.
G7G7An international forum with France, Canada, Italy, Germany, Japan, Great Britain and the United States as members. are often singled out as a similar “Western-led” group.
Fact
This is how Brics came to be
It was the economist Jim O’Neill who first used the term BRIC already in 2011.
He used it to describe the four fastest growing economies in the world at the time: Brazil, Russia, India and China.
Apparently, that may have gotten the four countries thinking. In 2008, the heads of state met to establish political and economic cooperation. It was named BRIC.
In 2011, South Africa was admitted to the group. The name then got an ‘s’ at the end.
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The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are institutions, which are also mentioned. They are financial institutions established by Western countries, known for, among other things, neoliberal conditions for loans and support, which have had major consequences for several countries in the global south global south The global south (or simply “south”) is a term for countries in the world which has benefited relatively little from the enormous progress in prosperity and welfare that has taken place in some of the world’s countries in the last couple of hundred years..
– The Brics countries feel they have been on the periphery and on the outside of decisions about the world order, which has been dominated by the USA. They want a new global order, without hegemon hegemons Hegemony is a term for leadership or a leading position. In the political science study of international politics, the term is used for a situation where one state has a dominant position over one or more other states, either militarily, economically or culturally. In such cases, the dominant power is referred to as a hegemon, where everyone is equal.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will attend the BRICS summit in Johannesburg in Putin’s place. Photo: Russian foreign ministry service / AP / NTB
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The Brics countries have already established their own bank and they are toying with the idea of a common currency that can challenge the dollar.
Don’t want to blackmail Brics
In a debate article in Aftenposten, historian Torkel Brekke writes that “behind celebratory speeches about financial and political justice, Brics is a club where authoritarian leaders meet like-minded people”.
Brekke advocates that the West should oppose Brics.
– A world where Brics is given a leadership role is a world where democracy and human rights are treated worse, writes Brekke.
The Nupi researcher does not completely agree. If you disregard Russia, the Brics countries are supporters of the UN and concerned with international cooperation, according to de Coning.
He believes there is no need to blackmail Brics as a group, even though Russia is a member.
– Countries such as Norway may have more common interests with some of the countries in Brics than, for example, the USA with a potential Trump administration, the researcher believes.
The five heads of state in the Brics countries, with the exception of Bolsonaro (right) who has now been replaced by Lula. The picture is from the Brics meeting in 2019. Photo: Pavel Golovkin / AP / NTB
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He believes that the other Brics countries do not support Russia’s war in Ukraine, and that they probably feel a certain “discomfort” related to it. Only Brazil has officially condemned the war.
– But Russia still gets to join the gang as if nothing has happened?
– The Brics countries value their relationship with Russia for historical and geostrategic reasons. They would rather find a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
Not just autocracies
Brekke therefore believes that Brics is a club for authoritarian leaders. De Coning believes it is more diverse.
Both Brazil and South Africa are defined as “free” by the democracy index Freedom House, and achieve a score of 72 and 79 respectively out of a total of 100 points in the measurement made in 2023. In comparison, the USA gets 83 out of 100 points.
Russia is not free, with 16 points. China comes out worst with 9 points on the index.
This difference does not hinder the countries’ willingness to cooperate.
– I think Brics wants a world order where people can coexist and not impose only an acceptable ideology or system on each other.
Of the Brics applicants, de Coning believes that countries such as Egypt, Nigeria and Kenya may be relevant.
– These are obvious examples from Africa. Brics is probably interested in members from the global south, which have large economies.
2023-08-22 20:56:16
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