#brics new members

[workersolidarity]

Interesting new graph from Visual Capitalist on the BRICS expansion.

BRICS has agreed to accept the following six new Members States:

Egypt

Ethiopia

Argentina

Iran

UAE

Saudi Arabia

Together, BRICS will now encompass 46% of the Global population, representing 29% of Global GDP, 25% of Global Exports, and 43% of Global Oil Production.

[digitalguap]

India's Opposition to BRICS Expansion - Is America the Big Winner?

Welcome to our blog post about India’s opposition to BRICS expansion and the potential repercussions for the United States. In this article, we will explore the reasons behind India’s stance and analyze its implications for America’s global interests. Join us as we delve into this intriguing topic and uncover whether America stands to benefit from India’s opposition to BRICS expansion. Let’s dive…

[zvaigzdelasas]

are you placing any bets on the new name if BRICS expands?

almost certainly "BRICS+"

[xtruss]

BRICS Summit in Xiamen, Southeastern China's Fujian Province on September 5, 2017. © Mark Schiefelbein/POOL/AFP

Dmitry Trenin: The Founder Members of BRICS Face a Historic Decision as They Attempt to Reshape the World Order

Expanding the membership and working towards financial independence from the West are two important challenges to be discussed at the Johannesburg summit

— Monday August 21th, 2023

Never has the BRICS group attracted so much interest around the world as in the run-up to the 15th leaders’ summit this week in Johannesburg.

This in itself shows the growth of the bloc's importance since its first gathering – at the level of economics ministers – on the margins of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum in 2006, and the initial proper summit in Ekaterinburg in 2009.

About 20 countries are reportedly seeking admission to the five-member organization and the list of countries that will be represented at the meeting in South Africa is three times as long. This is a sign of the times and points to two things: the yearning of many non-Western nations to become more consequential to how the world is run, and the growing pushback against self-serving Western dominance in global politics, economics, finance, and the media.

This does not mean, however, that BRICS (an acronym made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) will have an easy run in reshaping the world order. Ahead of the Johannesburg summit, two issues emerged as the main challenges to the group’s further evolution. One is expanding membership. A number of countries from all over the globe have lined up at BRICS' door, ready to walk in. These include Algeria, Argentina, Bangladesh, Belarus, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Going for a big-bang enlargement would be a loud statement, to the effect that an alternative to the US-led system of alliances and partnerships is being built. However, the question is would such an expansion make a much more diversified BRICS immediately stronger or not?

Within BRICS itself, views on enlargement differ. Yet, there is a model that can prove useful. Another non-Western group, with some of the same participant states, did manage the enlargement issue without diluting effectiveness. This was the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which started with Russia, China, and three Central Asian states. Over time, the SCO has found a formula for categories of participating countries and criteria-cum-processes for admitting new full members. The organization was able to extend its full membership to India and Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Iran, with a number of others in line for admission. If the SCO approach is adopted by BRICS, this could be a solution.

The other challenge for the bloc is coming up with new financial instruments to reduce the non-Western economies’ dependence on the dollar. Washington’s weaponization of its currency in its Hybrid War against Russia and its concurrent manipulation of trade and technology against China have made the issue urgent. Western restrictions have hampered the activities of the BRICS’ New Development Bank. Calls have been made for the group to create a common currency, to break the dollar's monopoly in world finance. Yet, it is self-evident that creating a reserve currency for five very different economies, of which China accounts for two-thirds of the combined nominal GDP of the group, will run up against the jealously guarded principle of national sovereignty. The original goal of achieving financial independence will not be met.

A more practical way would be to improve the currently growing practice of using national currencies in trade between BRICS countries. The yuan and ruble account for more than half of Sino-Russian commercial turnover; Russia accepts the rupee for the oil it ships to India; Brazil trades in yuan with China; and so on. While these transactions have the merit of being free from third-country interference, they can and do incur costs, due to the problems with convertibility of some currencies, their limited use outside the issuing country, and the instability of the exchange rate. These are the issues that need to be addressed. While a BRICS currency is still a long way off, it would make more sense to work on improving the system of international payments and settlements within the group.

BRICS is often compared to the G7. Yet, although is some ways the comparison can be justified, the two groups are fundamentally different in their ambition, structure, and evolution. The G7 is politically, economically and ideologically homogenous, while BRICS is rich in diversity on all counts; the G7 is essentially led by the United States, with the others, the ex-great powers, unquestionably accepting that leadership, whereas in BRICS, China’s economic weight does not translate into a Beijing hegemony. The G7 is globalist in the sense of seeking to project its models and morals on the rest of the world, and BRICS countries are wholly focused on their national sovereignty. At the same time, the G7 is clearly exclusive, with the West sitting clearly above the rest, while BRICS is just the opposite: it embraces the diversity of different civilizations and cultures.

The G7’s role is to preserve the old order in which the West is dominant; the BRICS members’ ambition is to build elements of a new, more diversified and better-balanced world order – first of all among themselves and then to further impact the evolution of the world system. BRICS is not an attempt to create a zero-sum alliance. It is the core of what one can call the World Majority that aims at development rather than dominance. The going will be hard and not unopposed but, with more pieces to the puzzle affixed, the foundation of a more open and inclusive world order will eventually emerge.

— Dmitry Trenin is a research professor at the Higher School of Economics and a lead research fellow at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations. He is also a member of the Russian International Affairs Council.

[faultfalha]

Rumors spread like wildfire among the diplomatic circles that South Africa's Foreign Minister had whispered something about the BRICS Bloc's possible expansion. Though no one could confirm what exactly it was, the suspicion that it involved a substantial number of new members was enough to get people buzzing. Of course, that was no surprise, as the BRICS alliance had been gaining momentum for years, ever since it was founded just a short decade ago. What could the foreign minister's statement mean? Speculation ran rampant, and the possibilities were endless. Was it the dawn of a new era, or an ominous sign of things to come? The details remain wrapped in mystery, and only time will tell as to what this sudden announcement could portend. It's only certain that those within the diplomatic circles must've sensed a shift in the winds, and the ripples of the turmoil are sure to spread far and wide. What the future holds is still unknown, and the truth may never be revealed. But as the speculation rages on, one thing is abundantly clear: the BRICS Bloc is about to become something entirely new.

[erinsintra]

i'm sorry but all international news looks like this to me:

"Why China is collapsing (And we should be glad)"

"USA bans wheelchairs after confirming they were not mentioned in the Bible"

"Why China is growing (And we should be terrified)"

"Self-made billionaire Oligarchius Whiteperson spends 7 trillion dollars in useless piece of fake-futuristic technology that will benefit no one"

"BRICS welcomes the People's Democratic Republic of Fuckedupistan as their new member on a mutual quest for stability and economic prosperity"

"Finland declares internet connection a human right; it is now free of charge within the country"

"Juan Carlos Hitler is elected president of Irrelevant LATAM Country. Guess what his first act is."

"Russia says they're very close to winning the war. Ukraine responds with 'nuh uh'".

[mapsontheweb]

BRICS admits six new members

Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are set to join the core group of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. These 11 countries have a combined population of 3.7 billion.

[readingsquotes]

"Despite a global propaganda machine working overtime to tell us that targeting hospitals is not targeting hospitals and killing civilians is not killing civilians, awareness of Israel’s crimes is spreading like wildfire across the globe. This is due in no small part to the tenacity of the Palestinian armed resistance, which has managed to defy containment by Israel’s 40-mile long ‘iron wall’ and continues to resist an Israeli invasion on the ground. At the same time, Palestinian artists, writers, journalists, and academics have worked tirelessly to dismantle zionist colonization of the global- particularly Western- imaginary, with story, with song, with music, and with art.   This resistance in all its forms is having ripple effects. Since October 7, people have continued to flood the streets in every nation with chants of ‘In our thousands, in our millions, we are all Palestinians.’ Josephine Guilbeau, a former member of the US military, said on Monday at a vigil for Bushnell that ‘I don’t think this is going to be the last of our military members resisting. I feel like there are many, many Aarons out there. Who will speak for them?’ Israel’s lies have long lacked legitimacy among the peoples of the Global South, and particularly the Middle East. But today Taylor Swift fans show up to protests holding signs declaring ‘Swifties for Palestine‘ and videos of lawyers proclaiming the Israeli occupation ‘existentially illegal‘ before the International Court of Justice go viral on Twitter. Palestinian journalists reporting from Gaza have bigger online followings than the US president, and buildings in the West are emblazoned with their images and quotes. In a statement responding to Bushnell’s protest the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) stated “(Bushnell’s act) indicates that the status of the Palestinian cause, especially in American circles, is becoming more deeply entrenched in the global conscience, and reveals the truth of the zionist entity as a cheap colonial tool in the hands of savage imperialism.” Israel’s legitimacy is crumbling, and it is taking the US empire with it. This is not to suggest that Israel is pulling the strings- rather, it shows how far the US is prepared to go before it will risk its hegemony in the region. The refusal of all but a handful of states to join the US-led coalition ‘Operation Prosperity Guardian’ to defeat Yemen in the Red Sea (notable among absentees was Saudi Arabia, which has since joined the BRICS group of nations alongside China, Russia and Iran) was telling. Increasingly, the imperialism of the Western media is being exposed, and voices from the Global South locating these lies within much longer histories of Western colonial violence are being heard in new ways, by a new generation.  In a talk he gave on October 21st, 2023, historian Ilan Pappé stated: ‘Before October I wrote an article saying this is the beginning of the end of Zionism…after last week in fact I’m even more convinced. As happened in apartheid South Africa, this is a very dangerous period. The regime fights for its life….historically I have no doubt that this is what we are experiencing, we are experiencing cruelty and brutality because a certain regime is losing it, not because it’s winning, but because it’s losing.’ Israel’s attacks on Iran and Lebanon, attempting to lure the US into a broader regional war, are another sign of that desperation. "

-

In our thousands, in our millions: On Aaron Bushnell’s final act

What Aaron Bushnell did was an act of fierce, principled love in a situation of extreme desperation. It unflinchingly declared that even in the heart of the empire the lies of Zionism no longer hold.

by Britt Munro March 1, 2024

[mariacallous]

On January 9, 2024, Swedish defense chief Gen. Micael Byden stood on a stage in Salen, Sweden, and gave a presentation intended to shock. Projecting a series of grisly images from the front lines of the Ukraine War, overlaid on a backdrop of snowy Swedish field, he asked: “Do you think this could be Sweden?”

Until February 2022, these questions would be unimaginable for a country that has maintained a careful 75-year strategy of peaceful nonalignment toward NATO. In a 2012 speech, the supreme commander of Sweden’s military at the time, Sverker Goranson, said that, in the event of an attack, “Sweden can survive for a week.” But at this recent Society and Defense Conference in Salen, leaders made it clear that the era of de-emphasizing defense was over. There, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson urged his citizens to prepare to defend themselves “with weapons in hand and our lives on the line.”

For Russia’s Scandinavian neighbors, the full-scale invasion of Ukraine disrupted a cool calculus of neutrality. Last year, Finland became NATO’s newest member, with Sweden likely soon to follow, pending approval from Hungary. These new northern alliances are shifting the geopolitical power balance, with Arctic NATO nations soon outnumbering Russia seven to one. And, just as the melting Arctic ice opens new resources and routes for global economic competition, it also exposes new defensive vulnerabilities.

Today, as Ukraine and its NATO allies push Russia into a corner, global leaders—together with Scandinavians themselves—are increasingly turning a troubled gaze north. They’re asking: How likely is escalation in colder climes?

“The increasing competition and militarization in the Arctic region … is worrying,” NATO military committee chair Adm. Rob Bauer said in an October 2023 speech at the Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavik, Iceland. “We must be prepared for military conflicts arising in the Arctic.”

“Low tensions in the High North”: so have global leaders and analysts referred to a post-Cold War period of relative polar stability. For the past several decades, bilateral and international agreements between Russia and other Arctic states have emphasized shared northern security as well as scientific and safety interests. But after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, these arrangements quickly fell apart. In March 2022, the Arctic Council, a forum between the eight Arctic states, suspended talks. (In May 2023, it cautiously resumed but has yet to make Russia’s involvement clear.) In September 2023, Russia left the smaller Barents Euro-Arctic Council with Norway, Finland, and Sweden—saying the Scandinavian states had “paralyzed” cooperation. In February 2023, Russia amended its Arctic policy, emphasizing new alliances with other BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) nations, particularly China. That month, it also suspended participation in New START, the last remaining nuclear arms control agreement between the United States and Russia.

“There’s this post-Cold War political idea of ‘Arctic exceptionalism,’ that the north is excepted from developments in global politics,” said Rasmus Bertelsen, the Barents chair in politics at the Arctic University in Tromso. “The problem is, it’s never been valid.”

Look a little closer at the past decades, Bertelsen said, and you’ll see a Russian Arctic strategy that closely follows its global agenda. In 2007, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s speech at the Munich Security Conference firmly rejected a U.S.-led, post-Cold War global order of stability. That same year, Russia launched its first cyberattack on Estonia and made a bold Arctic territorial claim by planting a Russian flag in the seabed below the North Pole. Putin has also concentrated militarization around the High North. Since 2014, the year Russia annexed Crimea, Russia has steadily grown a northern fleet of nuclear submarines, surface ships, missile facilities, air fleets, and radar stations. Today, Russia’s largest military base is on the Kola Peninsula, which borders Norway and Finland, where it is also testing new hypersonic missiles and a nuclear torpedo drone. Though about 80 percent of Russia’s northern land forces were deployed to Ukraine, its air and sea forces remain intact.

“Earlier, Russia had an interest in seeming like a constructive partner, including in the Arctic,” said Andreas Osthagen, a senior fellow at the Arctic Institute in Oslo, Norway. “Just like in the rest of the world, that has deteriorated.”

Russia’s full-scale invasion came as a wake-up call to Scandinavian neighbors that have, for decades, resisted militaristic alliances. Suddenly, neutrality began to look a lot more like vulnerability. Finland had an especially stunning reversal: As recently as December 2021, 51 percent of Finns opposed joining NATO. Today, 78 percent support the membership. With this alliance comes the promise of U.S. military might. In 2023, Finland and Sweden both signed bilateral military agreements with the United States, permitting American personnel and weapons at dozens of bases, including nine in the Arctic. Norway, an active NATO member since its formation, already has several bases that permit U.S. personnel and weapons. Still, since the Cold War, Norway has followed a “reassurance” policy that limits NATO and its allies’ presence past the 28th longitudinal zone, close to Russia. Now, it’s unclear whether that policy will hold.

Since 2009, the Nordic Defense Cooperation has aligned Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Iceland on national military policy. In 2022, Norway, Finland and Sweden announced an agreement to strengthen the alliance with a focus on the high North. Today, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland are in ongoing talks about formally sharing their air forces. In March 2024, Norway will lead an expanded “Nordic response” exercise for these nations to test their coordinated defense plans. Michael Paul, a senior fellow in security policy at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, said that history will reveal this new Nordic alliance as “one of Putin’s greatest mistakes.”

“If the war in Ukraine has achieved anything, it’s to align the Nordics on security,” Paul said. “You want to divide your enemies, not unite them against you.”

Ferguson sees the U.S. Swedish and Finnish military bases as mutually beneficial: Where the U.S. has resources, it often lacks technical expertise in extreme conditions. These smaller nations, she said, have a lot to teach the United States military. And their alliance with NATO is, she said, a “game-changer.”

“We now have seven out of eight Arctic nations geopolitically aligned with highly capable militaries,” Ferguson said. “I don’t know if there is such a concentration of alignment and capabilities between nations anywhere else in the world.”

Still, Ferguson emphasized that this is all in the name of deterrence. And experts agree that a full-scale northern conflict is unlikely. Paradoxically, Paul noted, Russia’s sheer military capacity and economic resources that increase Arctic tensions also deter real escalation. In the north, Russia simply has too much to lose: The immense territorial mass and extensive fossil fuel resources both stand as major claims to its identity as a global superpower. And unlike the cases of Ukraine and Crimea, Putin has never publicly imagined reclaiming Finland, which declared independence from Russia in 1917, nor has he spoken about accessing the Atlantic through Norway. Paul said that the Kremlin has an interest in maintaining a “low level of tension” in the north.

For now, that has meant hybrid warfare: “gray zone” tactics that are harder to trace or attribute. For instance, in November 2023, after a massive surge of asylum-seekers prompted Finland to become the first neighbor to close its border to Russia, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo called the move “instrumentalized immigration”; that is, retaliation for joining NATO. (Russia denied the charge.)

At sea, potential aggression is even harder to trace. In April 2021 and January 2022, fiber-optic cables connecting the Svalbard archipelago to the Norwegian mainland was mysteriously severed. Later, vessel-tracking data revealed, in both instances, that Russian fishing boats had passed repeatedly over the cables prior to the damage. In October 2023, a Chinese container ship called the Newnew Polar Bear damaged a Baltic gas pipeline before entering Russian waters. According to the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation, a severed anchor likely belonging to the ship caused the damage, but experts still dispute whether the damage was intentional. Proving malicious intent is extremely difficult, and investigations are ongoing.

“It’s one of the major questions being asked right now: How do we defend against attacks on subsea critical infrastructure?” said Marisol Maddox, a senior Arctic analyst at the Polar Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. “There hasn’t been a single instance of serious consequences. At this point, the lesson that Russia is learning is that they can get away with it.”

Intentional or not, the effects of such infrastructure damage can be extensive and long-lasting: For example, the fiber-optic cable damaged in April 2021 wasn’t identified and repaired until November of that year. Luckily, one other subsea cable remained to keep the lights on in Svalbard. But absent that redundancy, thousands of people could have been left stranded without power for months. In the event of an explicit conflict, Maddox said, those kinds of vulnerabilities are extremely worrying.

In highly militarized zones, mistakes may carry the highest risk. To Osthagen, “miscalculation and misinterpretation” are the “greatest security risk in the North Atlantic Arctic.” In this region, Russia and NATO both conduct frequent military exercises, rehearsing mobilization of their forces and fleets. These routine rehearsals are especially necessary in colder climates, which require cold-resilient equipment and technology. (Notably, Osthagen emphasized, Russia has simulated direct attacks on its neighbors, whereas NATO has strictly simulated defensive strategies.) But these are complicated operations, often testing people and procedures for the first time. All it takes is one accidentally discharged firearm, one crossed signal, for rehearsal to open a military theater. Typically, such exercises are clearly communicated and coordinated across borders. But more recently, this communication has suffered.

“Paradoxically, after February 2022, the tension and fear of something happening has increased, whereas the potential for dialogue has disappeared,” Osthagen said. “This is the most troubling aspect of all.”

And where does this warfare, hybrid or explicit, end? In the worst case, the current war in Ukraine could conclude with a northern strike. Russia has 11 submarines capable of launching long-range nuclear weapons; eight of them reside in the Kola Peninsula. For this reason alone, the Arctic carries a particular weight for global leaders who must consider escalation to its absolute hypothetical end.

Even so, Paul emphasized that Arctic conflict of any form still remains counter to Russia’s interests and is less likely than in other parts of the world. Still, he cautioned against assuming that Putin will behave rationally. If backed into a corner, as NATO expands and Ukrainian troops advance, it is impossible to know how he will respond. But a fact remains that Arctic nations won’t easily forget: The remainder of his military might centers on the north.

“Putin made a big mistake in Ukraine,” Paul said. “He could make another in the Arctic.”

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Lula wants Brazil, South Africa, India in UN Council

The president of Brazil defended this Tuesday (22), the opening day of the BRICS Summit, that in addition to Russia and China, the other countries of the bloc have a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. He also said he favored the entry of new members into BRICS.

Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defended this Tuesday (22) all members of BRICS – a group currently formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – become permanent members of the Security Council of the United Nations (UN). Currently, only Russia and China are. “We need to convince Russia and China that Brazil, South Africa, and India can join the Security Council.”

In Johannesburg, South Africa, for the BRICS Summit (pictured above, the landing), Lula also defended the entry of new members into the bloc. “This is a debate we will have. Also, to allow the entry of new countries, we have to limit [the discussion] to some subject everyone agrees on. If there is no commitment from the countries joining the BRICS, it could become a Tower of Babel. We are building this. From this meeting here, I think something very important could emerge about the entry of new countries. I am in favor of the entry of several countries. We would become strong.”

Continue reading.

[urbangeographies]

BRICS Adds Six New Members Yesterday, the BRICS group of nations (Brazil, China, India, Russia, and South Africa), announced the bloc's expansion to include six new members: Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. It is the first expansion of the group since South Africa joined in 2010. The group of emerging economies has been described as an effort to create a counterweight to Western economic and political dominance and to bring greater relevance to the concerns of the Global South. With China as the group's most powerful member, the group has become more active in developing alternative financial systems, particularly since the imposition of Western-backed sanctions on Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

This map depicts the current members of the BRICS group of countries in orange, with the members who have been approved to join the bloc in yellow. Click on the map to learn more.

Source: American Geographical Society. Further Reading: Reuters, Washington Post, NPR, The Guardian, South China Morning Post, American Geographical Society. Graphic Source: Al Jazeera

[thelostdreamsthings]

Understanding the NATO summit:

The steam for the US proxy war in Ukraine is running out. No commitment is given to Ukraine to obtain NATO membership because the West has come to realize that they can’t win a war against Russia and that peace will only be possible with a neutral Ukraine.

Ukraine will never be a member of NATO. Zelenskyy has realized this and is fuming in Vilnius, attacking NATO as disrespectful and calling the conditions absurd. In a moment of clarity he acknowledged what’s really going on:

"It seems there is no readiness neither to invite Ukraine to NATO nor to make it a member of the Alliance. This means a window of opportunity is being left to bargain Ukraine’s membership in NATO in negotiations with Russia."

That’s exactly right. NATO has lost this war. Biden has lost this war. The lunatic Democrats have lost this war. The uni-party warmongers have lost this war. The EU has lost this war. Ukraine and Zelensky have lost this war.

Russia wins and rightfully so because everything that happened in Ukraine was a fraud against the Ukrainian people perpetrated by a failing US empire in its final stand against a rising multipolar world.

Zelenskyy was never a leader who did what’s best for his people. He will be remembered as a US puppet and actor for foreign interests. 350,000 Ukrainians dead because of him and his puppet masters in the US. He lost $12.7 trillion worth of land and resources to Russia because he did not sign the reasonable peace agreement that Russia had proposed to him. Instead he fell for empty promises from Biden that the US will support Ukraine until victory. What a fool.

The good news is this war may be over soon. The West has lost its appetite to throw more money into the Ukrainian black hole. With the US and EU entering recession they have enough problems at home. Protests and riots will become regular news. Biden wouldn’t stand a chance in the next election. His brain is Swiss cheese and the only alternative for the Democrats is Kennedy.

Trump will use the fatal mistake in Ukraine and the dire economic outlook of the US to run a successful campaign. Kennedy, who says all the right things, would be his only real obstacle but the Democrats have messed their country up so royally that Trump seems like the only choice.

The reality is that it doesn’t matter who the next US president is. The insurmountable debt burden combined with de-dollarization in global trade and the rise of BRICS+ are going to send the US into a decade long depression with unseen levels of poverty and violence.

Hopefully humanity dodged a bullet and nuclear war is no longer imminent. At least that is my read of the situation right now. But things could flare up again if peace negotiations fail. Russia may be tempted to take Odessa and turn Ukraine into rump state without access to the sea. Russia is holding all the cards. Let’s see how Putin plays them.

Putin’s ONLY mistake is not starting the Ukraine special military operation sooner than he did.

Zelensky is not just angry because he's short, has no friends and was rejected by NATO..

He's also angry because Putin currently controls 100,000 sq km of Ukrainian territory.

[zvaigzdelasas]

The BRICS alliance — which presently reunites Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — is set to invite Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to join, Ramaphosa said in a speech

24 Aug 23

[faultfalha]

The Minister's statement was cryptic, but it was clear that something was afoot. He hinted that South Africa was considering joining the BRICS bloc as a full member, with three new countries. What could this mean for the future of the bloc? There was much speculation in the press about what the Minister could have meant. Some said that he was alluding to a new alliance that would rival the G7. Others speculated that the new members would be countries that were in the process of gaining independence from European colonial powers. No one knew for sure what was going on, but it was clear that the Minister's statement had sent shockwaves through the world of international politics.

[workersolidarity]

🇷🇺🇨🇳 🚨

RUSSIA, CHINA AND BRICS PREPARE MASSIVE BLOW TO US DOLLAR DOMINANCE WITH LATEST CURRENCY MOVES

The BRICS trade organization, with the backing of the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China, is preparing a major blow to U.S. dollar dominance in the global economy with an expanded payments system for trade between nations that will not be pegged to the U.S. dollar, according to reports in the Russian media.

The report, published in Russian news outlet Ria Novosti, stated that a new decentralized, blockchain-based international payment system, known as BRICS Pay, will make it possible to bypass Western sanctions while boosting the economic influence of BRICS, BRICS member states, as well as developing countries that trade with BRICS nations, while accelerating efforts to create a new international trade currency.

The United States sees these developments as a direct threat the U.S. dollar and its status as the World's reserve currency, according to the news outlet, with one of the main goals of the BRICS organization being the avoidance of International dependency on the U.S. dollar for trade outside the Western sphere of influence.

Already, 95% of trade between the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China is conducted in Yuan and Rubles.

This kind of trade, conducted outside the U.S. dollar, "increases solvency and economic resilience to uncertainties and external shocks," says Shen Yi, the Chief of the BRICS Research Center at the Development Research Institute of Fudon University, as quoted by Ria Novosti.

“Objectively speaking, the diversified development of the international monetary and payment systems is consistent with the changing trends in the distribution of power and the general direction of evolution of the global system,” Yi noted in an interview with the Russian news outlet.

The news agency says the next step in this development is "our own system of international payments."

Recently, Russian Presidential Assistant, Yuri Ushakov, announced the intention of the BRICS commonwealth to create a payment system using a blockchain-based digital currency, with the purpose of developing a modern, effective payment service (BRICS Pay) intended to make international payments between countries "convenient, cost-effective, and most importantly, free from political influence."

"We need to completely move away from the peg [of international trade] to the dollar and Western instruments like [the] SWIFT [payments system]." Ushakov added.

Experts point to a BRICS payment system as a method of avoiding the sanctions of the United States and its Western allies, emphasizing that BRICS countries, and countries trading with BRICS member-states, will be able to perform mutual payments while avoiding the U.S. dollar, weakening the currency's role as the backbone of international payments and the world reserve currency.

The report also adds that a decentralized cryptocurrency payment system based on blockchain technology would be far more difficult to track, helping countries to avoid secondary sanctions while trading with nation-states under economic assault by the West like the Russian Federation.

Furthermore, a BRICS payment system will become a direct competitor to the Western-dominated and controlled SWIFT payment scheme, strengthening multipolarity in global finance and undermining the dictats of the United States and the European Union, while increasing the financial and political heft of the BRICS organization and its members.

According to Yaroslav Ostrovsky, a specialist in the strategic research department at Total Research, “If this project is implemented, its participants will switch to their own currencies in international payments, without the dollar and SWIFT terminals. At the same time, it is planned that countries outside the bloc will also be able to use the new system. The synergistic effect from such interaction will strengthen the position of BRICS in the global economic system."

Setting up such a payment system will take time, with financial experts suggesting it could take upwards of a year for debugging and implementing the payment scheme, while some experts say the system could become the basis for a future, single, BRICS supranational currency, and perhaps even a direct challenger the U.S. dollar's position as the world's reserve currency.

The new payment system, as well as any future BRICS currency, are a part of a process for which BRICS aims to become a global organization, trade union, and international financial association in direct competition with the Western-dominated international trade system, based on the U.S. dollar, that is currently wielded as a weapon against the adversaries of the West through its sanctions regime and it's control over International institutions.

#source

#photosource

@WorkerSolidarityNews

[mapsontheweb]

Map of European colonization of Africa with former rulers and date of independence of each state. Ethiopia, now new adopted BRICS member, was only country that was never a colony, just occupied by Italy during WW2