Brics: Influential bloc charts path ‘toward a new world order’

Amid what political analysts viewed as a step towards a new world order, the expansion of Brics bloc and its far-reaching declaration – adopted by the body’s three-day leaders’ summit in Sandton yesterday – United Nations (UN) secretary-general Antonio Guterres has called on the world to urgently restore trust and reinvigorate multilateralism for the 21st century.

Addressing the media on key decisions taken by the summit, Brics chair President Cyril Ramaphosa said the Johannesburg II declaration agreed, among other resolutions, to:

– Task the Brics finance ministers and central bank governors, to consider the local currencies, payment instruments and platforms – reporting back to leaders by the next summit; and

– Reaffirm the importance of Brics people-to-people exchanges in enhancing mutual understanding, friendship and cooperation.

As Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), having accepted membership of the oil-rich nations of United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Iran, along with Argentina, Egypt and Ethiopia, Guterres called for multilateral institutions to remain universal by “reforming to reflect today’s power and economic realities”.

“To be a factor of peace, equity and justice in international relations, multipolarity must be supported by strong and effective multilateral institutions,” said Guterres.

“Look no further than the situation in Europe at the dawn of the last century. Europe was multipolar, but it lacked strong multilateral mechanisms.

The result was World War I.

“As the global community moves towards multipolarity, we desperately need a strengthened and reformed multilateral architecture based on the UN Charter and international law.

“Today’s global governance structures reflect yesterday’s world. They were largely created in the aftermath of World War II, when many African countries were still ruled by colonial powers and were not even at the table.

“This is particularly true of the Security Council of the United Nations and the Bretton Woods institutions.

“For multilateral institutions to remain truly universal, they must reform to reflect today’s power and economic realities. In the absence of such reform, fragmentation is inevitable.”

Viewing the impact of the growing and influential Brics as signalling a step to the new world order, foreign policy analyst Sanusha Naidu said:

“All this is fascinating, particularly on the announcement of six new members.

“It caught some of us off-guard, with the expansion of Brics now being real, in the sense that it represents the jostling of the international system.

“To those who have been comfortable, they will now realise that there is a grouping out there. If you choose to ignore Brics now, do it at your peril – especially the Brics 11.”

University of Johannesburg associate economic professor Peter Baur said Brics contributed “to a large share of the global gross domestic product”.

“Much of this contribution is through trade and investment,” said Baur. “The key objective of Brics would be to foster an environment which would facilitate trade cooperation and investment opportunities between the member countries.

“The merging economies are seen as an attractive place to facilitate investment, especially taking into consideration the challenges experienced in Europe – and given the rising energy costs.

“Such investment could help strengthen the Brics paradigm – further creating a broader framework to strengthen the relationship between Brics countries.”

Policy analyst Dr Nkosikhulule Nyembezi said the admission of six new countries would reshape the global order, “underscoring what Brics leaders say is the attractiveness of its message”.

“We hope that revival of the Black Sea grain initiative by Russian President Vladimir Putin will assist many developing countries.

“Hopefully, this cooperation will positively boost efforts to promote peace, democracy, development and stability in the wake of rising tensions – and a concerning trend of oppressive governments,” said Nyembezi.