Margins of the BRICS Summit

 

The BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) has become attractive due to the American extremism represented in imposing embargoes and trade, economic and financial “sanctions” on a group of countries, starting with North Korea and Cuba and then expanding to Iran, Venezuela, China, Russia, Syria and others, and on everyone who deals with These countries use dollars or make financial transfers through American banks or have branches in the United States and its colonies, and this American “extremism”, especially since 2001, has led to the “rebellion” of some regimes under American influence. About forty countries have applied to belong to the “BRICS” group. Therefore, Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed his contentment by declaring, at the conclusion of the fifteenth BRICS summit on August 24, 2023 in the South African capital, Johannesburg, that "all goals have been achieved."set by China...It is a historic moment, and a new beginning for cooperation between developing countries, as the group expanded, for the first time since 2010 (the year of entry into South Africa), with the entry of new members, especially the oil-producing countries that will sell oil in currencies other than the dollar, and thus the disengagement takes place. With the petrodollar, by establishing alternative payment systems, in light of the US trade embargo against China, Russia and Iran, however, the entry of the three Arab countries, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, will increase the internal imbalance of the group that was composed of commodity-producing countries, while these Arab countries do not produce The three are nothing but raw commodities and its economy remains rent-seeking, and the Chinese president has the right to rejoice because the new members (Argentina, Egypt, Abyssinia, Saudi Arabia, the Emirates and Iran, as of January 1, 2023) are important to China and its projects such as the “Belt and Road” and to provide fuel (despite the rejection of Algeria’s membership because it did not Achieve a consensus, becauseIndia's objection), especially after it was able to supervise the reconciliation between the two rival oil systems (Saudi Arabia and Iran) and for non-dollar exchange, and it is also important to Russia, to a second degree, as it is a large producer of crude oil, and Russia is trying to benefit from expanding the exchange network in local currencies, that is, without dollars. And China and India had signed contracts with Russia and with oil countries to buy fuel in local currencies, and those contracts may be the beginning of a new phase that might put an end, in the medium term, to the dominance of the dollar, which enabled the United States to impose its laws and regulations and militarize international relations, to protect its interests by force. , so that “a quarter of the global economy is subject to sanctions and the threat of the possibility of using sanctions against any country at any time, so all developing countries are threatened, and they are looking for alternatives to the dollar and the Swift system for financial transfers,” and the Chinese president stressed the needFinding ways to secure investments, joint economic projects and trade exchange, away from the control of the United States, the dollar and the euro, and the willingness of NATO countries and their allies to use all means in order to continue their military, financial and media hegemony...According to the “Financial Times” newspaper (August 24, 2023), China had preceded the US ban by establishing a platform for exchange and clearing, with the aim of dispensing with the “Swift” system in the medium term, and the volume of transactions through this platform increased, since the imposition of US and European sanctions on Russia. Thus, China - thanks to the strength of its economy and thanks to advance planning - will be the first beneficiary of expanding the field of non-dollar trade, because this would increase the share of the Chinese currency (the yuan) as an international reserve currency alongside the dollar, the euro, the yen, the pound sterling and the Swiss franc, for example. Argentina (the new member of the BRICS group) paid the International Monetary Fund, during the month of July 2023, an installment in yuan worth $2.7 billion from a loan that the previous government had obtained as part of the huge rescue plan, at a value of $57 billion.

🔘 Previous attempts to reform the international system have failed because they aim to reform the capitalist system from within, with the same rules of capitalism, and the aspirations of BRICS members are limited to finding a place for it in the system of capitalist globalization and not to change it or create an alternative to it or launch the process of “disengagement” from the capitalist system.

Since the end of World War II, and especially since the collapse of the Soviet competitor in 1991, the United States imposed an unjust regime that enabled it to organize numerous coups and aggressions in South America, Africa and Asia, spy on competitors and even allies, and try to quell any liberal spirit, blur differences and denounce demands. legitimate states and peoples, including broad segments of the American people, and used excessive military and financial force, and turned competitors and adversaries into enemies, and therefore the reputation of the United States became bad, and is associated with military dictatorships all over the world, which explains China's (relative) success in attracting countries From different continents, by promoting slogans such as "for a multipolar world" as an alternative to the unipolar one dominated by the United States, even if China's project is capitalist and exploitative, but it calls for trade and economic cooperation between countries whose economic system differs.And the political, which seems positive at first glance, but carries the risks of explosion faced by the Non-Aligned Movement, the Group of Seventy-seven, or the Group of Fifteen...

The natural development of the capitalist economy leads to the stage of monopoly, the control of financial capital, and the expansion of international markets, which are characteristics of imperialism. Burdened with debts, in addition to the entry of Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, all of which are located on the “Belt and Road” path, and from the same region surrounding the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea, the Horn, the Suez Canal, and the Gulf overlooking the Indian Ocean, which the United States is working to use (with the Pacific Ocean) to strangle trade Maritime China, and thus China prepares ways to resist the American blockade attempts.  

China is trying to distance itself from the suspicion of the new dominant state, and to appear in the image of the country that seeks to build a system of cooperation and mutual benefit or assistance from which all partners benefit. The sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies against any regime it considers hostile to it, or any government that is not subject to American instructions...

The BRICS group could become an economic force if it had a common plan or goals, or some political or ideological homogeneity, as the share of the group of seven richest countries in the world is about 32% of the total global output, while the total output of the BRICS countries is estimated, after the accession of the six members grandparents erase 36,6% of global output, and the volume of gross domestic product of BRICS members exceeds that of the G7 countries (the 7 most powerful countries), and the size of the total economic power may be one of the factors tipping the balance of power, despite the huge US and NATO military power and despite the dominance of the “American alliance” The international financial institutions, and the strengthening of the "BRICS" group with new members, may be a step towards building a "multi-polar world" (unclear, so far), and towards changing the rules of relations between states, and Russia had expressed "assistance to the poor African countries." , by sending quantities of wheat for free, and establishing credits without interest rates for countries in difficulty, contrary to what the World Bank practices,” according to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s speech recorded on a video tape, specially for the BRICS summit, and translated into several languages, Including Arabic...

The BRICS group aims to "transition towards a multipolar world" or towards a "new multilateral international economic order" that would put an end, in the long term, to the dominance of the United States and the US dollar in international transactions, by creating a future common currency to facilitate trade between countries members, and it is a loose program with unclear features and objectives, and it does not require breaking with the alliances established by the United States, and this ambiguity may be one of the reasons for attracting “developing” countries or those seeking greater strategic independence. Some of them are governed by agents of American imperialism) and its intention to belong to the BRICS group, including Algeria, which was previously active in the struggle for a new international economic order that was embodied in the speech of President Houari Boumediene in April 1974, and it was the first speech in Arabic at the United Nations, but the international scene has changed since thatThen, especially since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the content of the anti-imperialist struggle that was contained in the concept of the "Third World" or the Non-Aligned Movement disappeared, to give way to the term "Global South" or "developing countries", as Algeria was one of the founding members of the Group of 15, in Belgrade (the capital of the former Yugoslavia) in 1989, along with Brazil, Mexico, India, Venezuela and other countries. This gathering was aimed at creating a force that could balance the Group of Seven, but the Group of 15 disappeared during the first decade of the twenty-first century.

The BRICS Group established the New Development Bank (NBD), headquartered in Shanghai, as a financial instrument in the service of the "new multipolar world". This bank, whose founders aspire to be an alternative to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, welcomed the annexation of the UAE during the fall of 2021 and Egypt in 2023.

Previous attempts to reform the international system have failed because they aim to reform the capitalist system from within, with the same rules of capitalism, and the aspirations of BRICS members are limited to finding a place for it in the system of capitalist globalization and not to change it or create an alternative to it or launch the process of “disengagement” from the capitalist system. The dollar, and the BRICS group carries contradictions within it, as it does not constitute a homogeneous bloc or with common denominators or a solid common base, with the exception of an attempt to bypass the international system that has been dominated by the United States for nearly eight decades. Rather, there are deep and historical differences between some of the founding members, such as China. And India, or among the new entrants such as Egypt and Abyssinia, regarding the shares of the Nile water, and the entry of countries ruled by political regimes puppet to the United States such as Egypt and the Gulf states undermines the seriousness, efficiency and credibility of the BRICS group, which has not shown interest (until now) in issues of unequal development and exchange...

The most important of all is the adoption of productive development plans that change the lives of the exploited and oppressed people and groups for the better. The BRICS data showed no interest in development and investment in the productive sectors (agriculture, industry, and the conversion of raw materials into manufactured materials) and in scientific research, education, health, and technology. An interest in eradicating poverty (and poverty is born of class inequality) or in improving the living conditions of the people and toilers who produce the wealth that others monopolize... -

Most of the data was contained in a cable by Agence France-Presse (AFP) and two analyzes by "Bloomberg" and "Reuters" Commentary, Financial Times, August 24-25, 2023.