The BRICS want to challenge the United States’ hegemony. In order to do so, they welcomed six extremely important nations.
It’s official: the economic cooperation bloc known as BRICS, known for its anti-western approaches, will include six new members. The decision was taken at the Johannesburg summit with the five present nation members.
BRICS is an acronym for the five emerging companies that founded the bloc: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Its stated intention is to foster economic cooperation and accelerate growth amid developing economies.
Since the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine, however, the BRICS have found a new purpose: contrasting the US-dominated Western world. China, the world’s second-largest economy, was the main proponent of the bloc’s expansion.
The six new members are Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Argentina, Ethiopia and Egypt. They will officially join the BRICS on January 1st, 2024.
Not every BRICS founding member agreed to an expansion. In particular, Brazil and India were afraid of losing prominence within the bloc if relevant nations like Saudi Arabia were to join.
Eventually, however, they agreed to welcome the new members.
Another stated intention of the BRICS is the destruction of the US dollar as global reserve currency. Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking in a virtual call, claimed the BRICS abandoning the dollar was an “irreversible” process.
The new global order
The inclusion of Saudi Arabia and Iran into the BRICS ushers in uncharted territory in global geopolitics.
Until a few years ago, Saudi Arabia was closely aligned with the United States, with both nations considering Iran as an existential enemy.
Recently, however, Saudi Arabia strived away from the United States, as an alliance with Washington came with too many strings attached.
China, the new global geopolitical player, was simultaneously interested in friendship with Saudi Arabia and peace in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest oil exporter, with China being its largest buyer.
China brokered a truce between Saudi Arabia and Iran. To put it into perspective, it would be like brokering a truce between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1970s.
The Middle East risks slowly slipping away from Washington’s hands. The Biden administration is trying to open a dialogue with Saudi Arabia, with little to no avail.
It seems Saudi Arabia already chose which side to play for. While China and India continue buying oil from Russia and the Middle East for a bargain (and without using the dollar), Saudi Arabia continues cutting on oil production to raise prices in the West.
The two sides in the new Cold War are quickly forming.
