Brazil, China and obviously Russia are increasing their efforts to ditch the US dollar and challenge its role as global reserve currency.
The BRICS nations are looking to expand their businesses and worldwide influence by attracting partners away from the US sphere of influence. “BRICS” is an acronym for “Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa”, an alliance of the world’s most prominent developing economies.
The idea behind the BRICS bloc was to combine their fast-growing economies and a vast amount of resources to become the world’s most prominent economic alliance by 2050. Since the coalition’s inception in 2006, their collective GDP has expanded to constitute one-third of the Gross World Product.
In 2014, the BRICS formed their own banking institution, protecting their business interests across the globe. The China-based New Development Bank is one of the world’s most prominent financial institutions, with Egypt, the UAE and Bangladesh as members too.
China has become the second largest economy in the world. Beijing is ready to challenge the United States as the global economic and political leader, partnering with other BRICS nations to achieve this goal.
Currently, the BRICS bloc is far from being a relevant geopolitical player, but more internal pressure is steaming.
Since Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva became Brazil’s new president, he reignited the South American nation’s role within the alliance. China and Brazil are now trading in their respective currencies, ditching the US dollar exchange. Lula publicly declared his dream of uniting the BRICS nations under one currency, challenging the global power of the dollar.
A short-sighted dream, according to many, but an interesting scenario for many others.
The BRICS expansion
The Russian invasion of Ukraine changed the world. Its scope on world history is extremely difficult to grasp at the moment, but the conflict’s divisive nature is already apparent.
One thing is clear: two rival blocs are forming again, spanning the entire World. On one side, the West, there is a clear and unanimous leader: the United States, world’s most powerful nation and only real superpower. The opposite block, however, is much looser and with no clear geographic center.
China’s importance in the world’s economy is clear, but Beijing was never proclaimed the leader of a hypothetical eastern bloc. China, however, is expanding its sphere of influence and is now targeting a neuralgic center of US power: the Middle East.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, signaled its intention of joining the BRICS’ New Development Bank. Riyadh is also negotiating with Beijing, tickling the idea of stopping using the US dollar to trade oil with China.
These moves are detrimental to the United States, but Washington’s actions to resist them are limited. The Middle East is a dangerous cauldron which America never fully controlled.
Will China succeed where America failed?
