It’s not clear yet that the Brics alliance is close to being able to achieve unity of purpose.
The last two summits of Brics countries have raised questions about the coalition’s identity and purpose. This began to come into focus at the summit hosted by South Africa in 2023, and more acutely at the recent 2024 summit in Kazan, Russia.
Based on my research and policy advice to African foreign policy decision-makers, I would argue that there are three possible interpretations of the purpose of Brics+. However, the ability of Brics+ to exploit such possibilities is constrained by its make-up and internal inconsistencies. These include a contested identity, incongruous values and lack of resources to convert political commitments into actionable plans.
The summit emphasised that dialogue and diplomacy should prevail over conflict in, among other places, the Middle East, Sudan, Haiti and Afghanistan. One possibility is that it will evolve into an intergovernmental organisation with a constitution that sets up its agencies, functions and purposes. Examples include the World Health Organization, the African Development Bank and the UN general assembly.Critics point out that Brics+ consists of democracies , a theocracy , monarchies and authoritarian dictatorships . For South Africa this creates a domestic headache. At the Kazan summit, its president declared Russia a friend and ally.
As for violent conflict, humanitarian crises, corruption and crime, there is little from the Kazan summit that suggests agreement around action.
Cyril Ramaphosa Disruption Ethiopia Geopolitics Multilateralism Narendra Modi Non-Alignment Recep Tayyip Erdogan Saudi Arabia Trade Policy Vladimir Putin Xi Jinping
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