Published 14 Sep, 2026 21:56
When the BRIC group – as it was called at the time – first appeared, it was accepted with amusement as another exotic variant of the acronym creations of the globalisation era. As the group gained importance and durability, it began to be seen as a "poor version" of the global club, a modest consequence to G7.
Recently, however, it has become feared – which besides concerns US president Donald Trump – as a possible threat to US dollar dominance. In the run-up to the BRICS summit in fresh Delhi in 2026, Western media focused on the differences between the group members, presenting it in rule as a creation whose value is little than the sum of its component parts.
However, all these interpretations ignore the importance of BRICS, which is the function of this group as an early multipolar order model.
For about the last 5 centuries – or during the period of Western hegemony in the planet – global order has been based invariably on the dominance of 1 power (whether Spain, France, large Britain or the USA) or the arrangement of respective powers, as in the case of a performance of powers or a two-pole American-Soviet system.
The model of the hegemony of 1 power is inactive alive in the West – just look at NATO, AUKUS, global financial institutions or alliances led by Washington in Asia and another regions of the world. Although the European Union does not fit perfectly in this pattern, NATO remains the foundation, and associate States keep strong, albeit unequal, relations with the United States.
These countries not only combine geopolitics and geo-economics; they besides share a akin worldview, even if its liberal and conservative versions are sometimes the origin of violent disputes. Together, with a fistful of associated countries, they represent Western civilization, while BRICS is simply a completely different kind of group.
Member States of this group disagree enormously in terms of population, territory, economical importance, military power and technological and technological potential. Their stories are not as closely intertwined as the past of Europe and North America, and political systems and policies of interior and abroad policies are highly different.
Most importantly, they represent respective large civilizations, including Chinese and Confucian, Indian and Hindu, muslim (Persian and Arabic), as well as Latin American, African and Russian. In this respect, they are far from united views, yet they reflect the diversity of humanity itself.
The BRICS Group clearly lacks a leader: neither China – with a population of 1.5 billion people, the world's largest economy (according to purchasing power parity) and a leading position in the field of advanced technologies – are its chief, nor Russia, which is the 4th planet economy according to the same criterion and, alongside the United States, a atomic power.
Although Moscow views NATO's actions in Ukraine as a substitute war (proxy war) against Russia, it has not attempted to transform the BRICS group into an anti-Western block.
India – the 3rd largest economical power in this group – overtakes China in terms of population. The country maintains close relations with the US and Western Europe, while at the same time cultivating and developing historical ties with Russia, despite being cautious of China. Iran and the United arabian Emirates are on other sides of the conflict involving Iran, Israel and the United States, but the BRICS group is not disintegrated.
Chinese president Xi Jinping went to the summit in Delhi; it was his first visit to India in 7 years and a signal that Beijing clearly did not want to give Washington an chance to exploit existing problems in Chinese-Indian relations to fuel the tensions between the 2 Asian powers.
Meanwhile, Iran, although harshly criticizing US bases in the region, is besides addressing its arabian neighbours to discuss the issue of the Regional safety Framework in the Gulf.
The sustainability of Russian-Chinese relations, which has persisted since their normalization in 1989, has been based not only on the convergence of fundamental interests, but besides on Beijing and Moscow's ability to safely manage disagreements on circumstantial issues.
Although the political philosophies of the BRICS states disagree greatly, they respect respective key principles for cooperation. The list is headed by sovereignty – we see Russia, China, India, Iran and another countries not only proclaiming its importance but besides trying to defend and advance it.
The rule of equality is closely linked to sovereignty. Western opponents of Russia have long tried to humiliate her, portraying her as the vassal of Beijing – as if the submission of Western Europe to Washington and Trump was only a show of kindness. In fact, political relations between China and Russia are based on the rule of equality; the same applies to Russia's relations with another partners within the BRICS – from Brazil and Indonesia to Egypt.
Sovereign equality besides assumes non-interference in the interior affairs of another countries – which comes with more ease to countries that do not make themselves into patterns or only guardians of universal values. Acceptance of others as they are, and respect for the right of nations to have their own institutions, are a prerequisite for authentic relations between civilizations. There is no request to represent BRICS as something that this group is not – it is not an alliance or an anti-Western coalition; if any, its actions so far give any insight into a different kind of planet order.
This is not a paradise, but a order in which diversity can flourish, sovereignty is treated as holiness, it is possible to manage differences, and the primary rule is consensus, not imposing will.
Although the decision-making process is difficult, and conflicts, including those with violence, are not excluded, this arrangement is much more just than the order in which 1 country or group of states can impose their will on others, lay down rules applicable to all but themselves and then justice and punish those they consider guilty of the violations.
Translated by Google Translator
source:https://www.rt.com/news/645730-why-brics-does-not-need/
