This guest post is published courtesy of China Daily.
By Javier Vadell and Li Xing
The upcoming BRICS summit, scheduled to take place in Russia from Oct 22 to 24, is expected to see the inclusion of several countries.
The BRIC was introduced to highlight emerging market opportunities. South Africa joined in 2010, forming the BRICS. Since the 2023 Johannesburg summit, the grouping has included more Global South countries, such as the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Since the 2008 global financial crisis, the hierarchy of the world economy and global governance shaped by the United States-led liberal economic order is undergoing a systemic crisis. This crisis encompasses several dimensions: a crisis of functionality, marked by the failure of traditional international institutions; a crisis of scope, characterized by an overwhelming number of pressing issues; a crisis of legitimacy, reflecting a decline in trust toward the conventional institutions; and a crisis of authority, highlighted by the challenges posed by the rise of emerging economies.
Consequently, more and more countries in the periphery and semi-periphery are trying to sever exploitative ties with global financial capital and align their external relations with domestic needs and development. As a result, this delinking process is gaining traction in various regions worldwide, with the expanded BRICS — led by China’s economic influence — serving as a natural point of attraction. This delinking helps the Global South fulfill its aspiration for alternative forms of globalization that give it greater room for development.
The BRICS has evolved beyond merely being a coalition of emerging countries seeking greater participation. The expanded BRICS signifies a qualitative transformation, not just in terms of increased membership but also as a centripetal geopolitical force in this new era of global transformation.
Several key factors contribute to the appeal of the expanded BRICS for countries in the Global South.
The first is geopolitical factor. Many countries, including US allies such as Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, have lost confidence in US leadership because of its inability to provide public goods they once depended on.
The second is international financial factor. The weaponization of the US dollar against its adversaries is eroding the confidence of the international monetary system and pushing forward the momentum for de-dollarization. The long-term impact of this trend could lead to a more multipolar global financial system. This shift could pave the way for a new international economic order that includes alternative institutions for means of payment, units of value and reserves of value, such as the New Development Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
The third is global governance. The expanded BRICS aims to promote an alternative set of norms and values that challenge the current Western-dominated global order. The focus is on creating a multipolar world, where emerging economies and Global South countries have greater influence over global governance, economic systems and international relations. This ambition aligns with the group’s broader goal of rebalancing the global economic and political order in favor of developing nations, many of which feel marginalized by existing international institutions dominated by the West.
The fourth is cultural and civilizational factor. The expanded BRICS is promoting a new type of inclusive globalization that acknowledges cultural and civilizational diversity as opposed to the universalism often espoused by the West. This approach is rooted in a shared framework of values, such as sovereignty, peaceful coexistence and nonintervention in internal affairs, reflecting the spirit of the Bandung Conference of 1955.
Thus, the significance of the expanded BRICS should be understood in its contribution to the creation of a new model of “interdependent global governance”, where governance over global issues becomes more shared and collaborative among various powers, rather than dominated by a single superpower or a small group of Western nations. It implies an interactive process of mutual challenge, mutual constraint, mutual need and mutual accommodation engaged by both existing and emerging powers. It represents a dynamic situation in which existing and emerging powers are interconnected in a continual interactive process of shaping and reshaping the international order.
Interdependent global governance indicates that globalization is leading the world economy into real changes in the international system, encompassing “varieties of economic system” rather than adhering solely to the single free-market model dictated by Western neoliberal doctrines.
Interdependent global governance signifies the transition from the US-led Western hegemonic dominance into one where no single hegemon or hegemonic bloc defines the prevailing global norms and values. This shift creates opportunities for the accommodation and inclusion of alternative development strategies and policies. It also opens the door to different perspectives on the mechanisms, norms and values that drive national development and growth. The Western doctrines surrounding various mutually interdependent relationships, such as those between property rights and economic growth, the rule of law and market economies, free currency flow and economic order, and, importantly, democracy and development, are becoming increasingly flexible, less rigid and nonuniversal.
As the rise of emerging economies drives a transition in the international order, interdependent global governance suggests that the traditional North-South axis and conventional core-periphery distinctions are insufficient for understanding the current complexities of global relationships.
Interdependent global governance denotes a new situation, in which globalization has generated a world economic structure that is characterized by complex and intertwined interconnection and interdependence. Emerging economies are playing a significant role in the global division of labor, supply chains, value chains and finance, providing both the Global North and the Global South with various opportunities and challenges. Policies implemented by these emerging economies regarding finance, currency, investment, trade, security, environmental concerns, resource security, food security and commodity prices are increasingly having a global impact.
Javier Vadell is an associate professor at Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais, Brazil, and coordinator of graduate course of Contemporary China. Li Xing is a Yunshan leading scholar and a distinguished professor at Guangdong Institute for International Strategies, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, and an adjunct professor of international relations at Aalborg University, Denmark. The authors contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily.