BRICS: burgeoning counterweight to the West?
At its summit in Rio de Janeiro, BRICS states condemned the military attacks on its member state Iran and the war in Gaza. Brazil's President and host, Lula da Silva, also criticised Nato's armament plans, spoke of "false priorities" and demanded more engagement in development aid. Commentators debate the relevance of the alliance.
A colourful club with conflicting interests
The BRICS is too divided to present any serious competition for the West, argues e-vestnik:
.“The organisation has developed into a colourful group of countries with different, sometimes conflicting interests. China sets the course, but its dominance is met with resistance. Xi Jinping's refusal to fly to Rio de Janeiro is a sign that even the chief ideologist is starting to doubt the organisation's viability. Without the personal presence of Putin and Xi, who have always set the tone in the past, the summit becomes a mere formality. And this destroys the illusion that BRICS could become an organised counterweight to the Western world”
Wake up to the new era
BRICS has promising projects up its sleeve, taz affirms:
“For many countries, BRICS represents a real alternative to the US and Europe. ... Ambitious projects like setting up an alternative to the World Bank and a common currency to compete with the US dollar are progressing slowly but its trade relations and investments are steadily growing. And BRICS is not linking them to moral standards. The Western insistence on a rules-based world order has long been been regarded as hypocritical - as witnessed most recently in dealings with Israel, which has blatantly ignored international law in Gaza. The question remains as to whether Europe has understood that we are entering a new era.”
A key summit
Eleftheros Typos explains the meaning of the organisation:
“The divided West would be unwise to ignore a summit that represents 50 percent of the global population and 40 percent of global GDP. Particularly when it includes three nuclear powers (Russia, China, India) and its intra-trade has grown by a breathtaking 10.7 percent in the last decade - three times the growth rate of global trade. The absence of [China's President] Xi Jinping, who was represented by Prime Minister Li Quian, and of [Russia's President] Putin, who joined on a video call, does not detract from the summit's relevance.”