19.11.2019, NEO New
Eastern Outlook (Russia) https://journal-neo.org/2019/11/19/meanwhile-brics-is-alive-and-well/
There’s been no shortage of interest towards the
recently concluded ninth BRICS summit in Brazil. This association brings
together a total of five countries, with its name being an acronym coined to
represent the combined economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South
Africa. This block represents 23% of the world’s economic output and some 18%
of world trade, with a combined GDP of a mind-boggling 15.435 trillion dollars.
However, what is even more important, some may argue, is that it represents 42%
of the world’s population.
This year’s summit was held under the motto
“Stronger Partnership for a Brighter Future.” This motto pretty much
pre-determined heated discussions on the most urgent challenges the
international community faces – instability, regional insecurity, the state of
the world economy, the state of affairs in trade and finance.
In addition to opening speeches by the leaders of each
member state, there was
more than a hundred various meetings and events of
various caliber, during which a discussion of innovative developments and
increasing competitiveness took place, together with views being presented on
cooperative efforts between the member states in such fields as trade,
healthcare and security. There were voices promoting the need to modernize the
BRICS partnership strategy and take a more proactive unified position during UN
events. In addition to highlighting the need to intensify trade and investment,
the leaders voiced calls for reforming the global system of governance, thus
putting an end to the political and economic chaos that reigns in certain
regions of the world.
On the eve of the summit a number of MSM sources would
launch a smear campaign aimed at discrediting the rapprochement of the most
powerful developing economies by releasing statements that the strategy of
association chosen by BRICS was no longer modern or relevant. It is noteworthy
that back in 2015, Forbes would run an article titled: “The Death Of BRICS” and in the same year, the US business magazine Barron’s released an
autopsy under the heading “Why the BRICS Died”. Experts of the flagship of British business news, The Finanacial
Times, would echo these clichés a year later. Even the US rating agency S&P
Global said it assumed that the BRICS alliance was “meaningless.”
Yet, no signs of the imminent death of BRICS could be
observed during the recent summit. Even the attempts of the Trump
administration to drag Brazil away from the rest of the member states by
denoting it as the closest ally of Washington outside NATO produced no lasting
effect on the atmosphere of this massive event.
Yet, such grim predictions coupled with
assurances of selfless friendship that the West has been making in respect of
individual BRICS members had to affect the summit somehow, and they did. The
Bolsonaro government tried to demonstrate its support for the US position on
certain matters, urging other member states to delete from the final
declaration provisions that contradict US interests in the Middle East,
including the statement about the need for protection of UNRWA (the United
Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East). Under
the influence of Washington, Brasilia abandoned the special and
differentiated regime in the World Trade Organization (WTO), as the US wants to
scrap this mechanism so China and India can’t get an “unfair advantage in trade
negotiations.”
Nevertheless, in the final declaration of the BRICS
summit, the heads of Russia, Brazil, China, India and South Africa expressed a
position that contradicts the policy of US President Donald Trump on a number
of very important issues, Frankfurter Allgemeine reports. In particular, they advocated climate protection measures and free
trade. It has also been underlined there that it’s of paramount importance that
all WTO members avoid unilateral and protectionist measures that contradict
both the spirit and rules of the organization. The summit participants
emphasized that protectionist measures threaten global trade and investment,
can lead to a global economic downturn, and therefore all BRICS member
countries have pledged their commitment to promote mutual trade. The Brasilia
Declaration adopted on the basis of the results of the discussions reflected
the issues of security, the economy and trade, technology and climate, world
governance, the fight against corruption and the settlement of regional
conflicts that are relevant for BRICS. The BRICS member countries expressed
their commitment to the provisions of the Paris Climate Agreement, and also
advocated the reform of international organizations such as the UN, WTO and IMF
for them to be able to address modern challenges.
The Brazilian summit demonstrated to the world that
the BRICS cooperation format has become an instrument of multipolar world order
and financial institutions that work in parallel with the fundamental financial
institutions of the “West-centric” world system, such as the IMF or the World
Bank.
The fake forecasts of certain Western “experts” failed
to materialize as well, including those that stated that the Brazilian summit
would provide groundwork for the sitting Brazilian president to undermine the
policies of individual BRICS member states. In this regard, a number of
examples were given when during his election campaign, president Bolsonaru
would voice rather harsh criticism of Beijing. However, for this summit, the
Brazilian leader chose a balanced approach. Under pressure from the Brazilian
authorities, representatives of the so-called “Venezuelan opposition” liberated
the Venezuelan Embassy in Brazil, which they had been occupying until the day the summit began. The Brazilian president
himself said that “China is becoming more and more part of Brazil’s future,”
and overall the summit looks like an ideal platform to focus on mutually
beneficial cooperation instead of emphasizing geopolitical contradictions.
The recent BRICS summit has clearly showed that such
interaction between countries is reversing the long-standing principles of
international relations promoted by the United States and the European Union, as
now-a-days countries are looking for common ground and cooperation in areas of
common interests instead of concentrating on individual negative aspects. BRICS
leaders have shown that their countries reject dictatorship and political
pressure, the tactics of blackmail and threats, the use of military force
without UN Security Council sanction, the introduction of unilateral economic
sanctions, the ongoing abuse of the status of the American dollar together with
the substitution of international law with the so-called “rules based order”
recently invented by Washington.
*Vladimir Platov, an expert on the Middle East, exclusively
for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.
Die
Anti-Trump-Koalition
15.11.201920:53, Frankfurter Allgemeine https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/trumps-praesidentschaft/wie-trump-die-aufstrebenden-maechte-der-welt-zusammenschweisst-16487709.html
Das schafft nur der amerikanische Präsident: So unterschiedliche Staaten
wie Brasilien, Russland, Indien, China und Südafrika finden in Protest gegen
Trumps Handelspolitik zusammen.
So viel haben Brasilien, Russland,
Indien, China und Südafrika nicht gemein. Ordnungspolitisch und staatsrechtlich
lassen sie sich nicht über einen Leisten schlagen. Aber ein Ziel eint die
Regierungen und Regime dieser Länder – demokratische, autoritäre, diktatorische
– schon: In der Welt des 21. Jahrhunderts wollen sie eine große,
herausgehobene, eine führende Rolle spielen.
Das trifft natürlich vor allem auf den Aufsteiger China zu, der sich
anschickt, auf vielen Feldern den Vereinigten Staaten paroli zu bieten. Bei
Russland wird man eher von einem Aufhalten des Niedergangs sprechen müssen. Und
dennoch haben diese Länder eine Gemeinsamkeit gefunden, zu der ihnen
ausgerechnet die Regierung der Vereinigten Staaten den Weg geebnet hat: Sie
singen das Hohelied auf Multilateralismus und Klimaschutz und die Einhaltung
globaler Regeln; sie gerieren sich als Hüter des freien Handels und verdammen den
Protektionismus.
Nun ist nicht unbekannt, dass die große Mehrheit dieser Ländergruppe
gerade in puncto Freihandel keine weiße Weste hat. Aber das gerät weitgehend
aus dem Blick, seit und weil der amerikanische Präsident Trump „Disruption“ zum Leitmotiv
seiner Politik gemacht hat: Er hat Handelskriege angezettelt und sieht in
Zöllen – die Ökonomie ist in diesem Punkt schon ein Stück weiter – ein tolles
Instrument, um das verarbeitende Gewerbe in den Vereinigten Staaten
wiederauferstehen zu lassen.
Er hält von Multilateralismus nicht viel, es sei denn, er bekommt seinen
Willen, und zwar ganz. Den Austritt aus dem Pariser Klimaabkommen, das er für
das Werk finsterer Mächte hält, um Amerika zu kujonieren, hat er eingeleitet.
Mit anderen Worten: Die Vereinigten Staaten sind auf dem Egotrip, während
andere Staaten, und nicht unbedingt die kleinsten, gemeinsame Sache machen. Das
muss man auch erst mal hinkriegen.
The anti-Trump coalition
-updated on 15.11.2019-20: 53, Frankfurter Allgemeine
https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/trumps-praesidentschaft/wie-trump-die-aufstrebenden-maechte-der-welt-zusammenschweisst-16487709.html
a commentary by Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger
Only the American president can do this: Countries as
diverse as Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa meet in protest
against Trump's trade policy.
Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa have so
much in common. Regulatory and constitutional law, they can not beat a groin.
But one goal unites the governments and regimes of these countries -
democratic, authoritarian, dictatorial ones - in the world of the 21st century,
they want to play a major, prominent, leading role.
Of course, this is especially true of China, a rising
star who is preparing to face the United States in many fields. Russia will be
more likely to talk about halting the decline. And yet, these countries have
found a common ground on which the United States Government has paved the way
for them: they sing the Song of Solomon on multilateralism and climate change
and on the observance of global rules; they act as guardians of free trade and
condemn protectionism.
Now it is not unknown that the vast majority of this
group of countries has no white collar, especially in terms of free trade. But
this is largely out of sight, since and because US President Trump has made
"disruption" the leitmotif of his policy: He has fomented trade wars
and sees in tariffs - the economy is on this point a bit further - a great tool
to to resurrect manufacturing in the United States.
He does not think much of multilateralism unless he
gets his will, and that entirely. He has initiated the withdrawal from the
Paris Climate Agreement, which he considers to be the work of dark powers to
cheer America. In other words, the United States is on the egotrip, while other
states, and not necessarily the smallest ones, make common cause. You have to
get that right first.
Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger
responsible editor for foreign affairs.
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