Forum: BRICS scares with China-Russia protagonism and worries the US and the EU

Strategic partnership between Beijing and Moscow, creation of an international payment system that reduces dependence on the dollar and euro, and a New World Order are keeping Washington and its allies awake at night.

The reaction of Western powers to the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, has been marked by concerns about the bloc’s growing role as an alternative to US and European-led hegemony.

The 16th BRICS Summit, the first after the group’s expansion on January 1, 2024, with the entry of Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, joining Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa and marking the official start of even greater cooperation between the group’s countries.

On the agenda of the meeting that began on Tuesday (October-22) and continues until Thursday (October-24) is the expansion of BRICS, which already has a list of more than 30 interested countries.

There will also be debates on de-dollarization with proposals to create an international payment system that reduces dependence on the dollar and the euro, especially in response to Western sanctions.

The agenda also includes economic cooperation to strengthen commercial and financial ties between member countries and a New World Order that will debate the role of BRICS in promoting a multipolar global order, not dominated by the West.

Nightmare of the Western Empire

The meeting, which will be attended by leaders of emerging powers such as China and India, as well as new members such as Iran and Saudi Arabia, is seen as an effort by countries seeking to escape the influence of the dollar and create a parallel economic system, less dependent on Western powers.

For the West, particularly the US, the meeting reinforces the challenge that the BRICS alliance poses to the dollar-dominated global financial order.

The proposal for an alternative payment system to the dollar and growing trade between BRICS members are seen as attempts to undermine Western sanctions and economic control, especially against Russia and China.

There is also a perception that BRICS faces internal difficulties due to differences among its members, such as tensions between China and India and between new members such as Egypt and Ethiopia.

This could limit the bloc’s ability to present a fully unified front against the West, which some analysts see as a relief for Western countries.

The expansion of BRICS is closely watched by the US and its allies, who continue to adjust their policies to contain the advance of this new geopolitical configuration.

BRICS Summit in Western Media

Faced with these fears, the offensive by Western powers is underway through the corporate press, which paints a picture of confrontation.

Reuters , recording the meeting between Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin in a bilateral meeting on Tuesday (October-22), recalls that Russia is waging a war against Ukrainian forces supported by the Western military alliance North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

China, meanwhile, is under pressure from a unified US effort to counter its growing military and economic power.

In this context, Beijing and Moscow have increasingly found common geopolitical cause.

Russia and China, the agency continues, in reaction to what they see as the humiliations of the 1991 Soviet collapse and centuries of European colonial rule over China, have sought to portray the West as decadent and in decline.

The United States considers China its biggest competitor and Russia its biggest nation-state threat.

US President Joe Biden said democracies face a challenge from autocracies like China and Russia.

Biden has called Xi a “dictator” and said Putin is a “killer” and even a “crazy son of a bitch!” Beijing and Moscow have rebuked Biden for the comments.

The British BBC assesses that Putin is using the BRICS Summit to show that Russia is not isolated, despite Western sanctions and the arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court.

With more than 20 leaders in attendance, including Xi Jinping and India’s Narendra Modi, Russia is looking for alternatives to using the dollar in international payments.

However, the outlet points out, the differences between BRICS members, such as China and India, and new members, such as Egypt and Ethiopia, complicate the idea of ​​a fully united front.

The New York Times highlights that following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the West imposed sweeping economic sanctions on Russia, cutting off its access to the global banking system and seeking to isolate it diplomatically.

However, the US newspaper reports, Putin is showing resistance by gathering emerging countries from the BRICS group in an expanded summit to include new members Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which together represent almost half of the world’s population and more than 35% of global economic output.

The outlet concludes that the BRICS summit seeks to project the economic power of emerging countries and attract new nations to a coalition that aims to create a new world order, not dominated by the West.

In this context, the group is seen as a central structure of this new order, with Putin reinforcing this message in recent meetings with leaders and businessmen in Moscow.

What analysts from Western powers say?

The strategic rapprochement between Beijing and Moscow has sparked critical reactions from the US and its allies, who see the strengthening of Sino-Russian relations as a threat to the Western-led model of global order.

Western analysts point out that this alliance is being shaped primarily by anti-US interests and the desire to build a multipolar world that reduces Washington’s influence.

Like the Atlantic Council, a US-based think tank that focuses on international security and global policy issues, an article published in May this year brings together expert analysis on the new era of cooperation between Xi and Putin.

The text highlights that the alliance is driven by hostility towards the US and aims to challenge the Western-led global order.

Some analysts see the partnership as beneficial to Xi, despite unequal economic exchanges with Russia, while others highlight the dangers of sanctions, economic evasion and the strengthening of the authoritarian axis.

The relationship represents a new geopolitical dynamic that challenges the West.

The United States Institute of Peace (USIP), an institution funded by the US government focused on conflict resolution and promoting peace at a global level, in an article also from May 2024, analyzes how Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin strengthened their strategic ties amid Russia’s growing international isolation due to the war in Ukraine.

The strategic partnership between the two leaders highlights their opposition to US leadership and their desire to shape a new multipolar global order.

Despite strong economic and political cooperation, the article highlights the challenges the alliance faces, especially with international tensions and the impact of sanctions.

China and Russia respond to analysis and criticism

Despite the participation of several developing countries, the discontented Western powers are targeting Russia and China.

Both countries have responded firmly to Western criticism of their strategic partnership.

Russia advocates cooperation with China as a counterbalance to Western hegemony, especially after the imposition of sanctions over the war in Ukraine.

The Kremlin describes the partnership as essential to creating a new multipolar world order.

China, for its part, argues that the alliance with Russia is focused on economic development and strategic cooperation, and rejects Western criticism, stating that it seeks to maintain sovereignty and national interests.

Both countries emphasize that their relationship is not directed against third parties, but rather to promote global stability.

The original article here.