... countering the COVID-19 pandemic. While initially considered a club of the most dynamic economies, the union of five countries has become internally highly heterogeneous. China and India continue to vie with each other as leaders of economic growth, while Brazil, South Africa and Russia have witnessed a systemic crisis since the mid-2010s, when the fall in GDP alternates with stagnant growth. Economic difficulties in Brazil and South Africa have led to a change of elites. The new leaders have sought to critically ...
... synchronize views. In the last few years, nearly a decade into its establishment and operation, BRICS is facing a crisis. On the one hand, the crisis has a specific set of causes, which include an economic downturn in three of its countries (Russia, Brazil, South Africa) as well as the worsening contradictions between China and India or between China and Brazil. The accumulated dissatisfaction with the actual results of the grouping’s ten years of operation has also contributed to these trends, since many ...
... the mirror are closer than they appear.” In other words, China may also be a subject to sanctions at one point partially or fully.
Tristan Kenderdine:
US–Iran Conflict Would Strengthen China’s Position in the Middle East
China, Russia, India, Brazil, and South Africa are the founding members of the
New Development Bank
. NDB’s 2017–2021 general strategy clearly highlights the bank’s commitment and intention to be new in three areas: 1) new relationships; 2) new projects and instruments; 3) new ...
... inclusive and sustainable development, “the fourth industrial revolution,” and Africa’s special role in the context of South Africa’s claim to leadership on the continent. On the other hand, each party received some working mechanisms and initiatives ... ... World Health Organization’s Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Tuberculosis held in Moscow, the World Water Forum in Brazil, the Vaccine Research and Development Center and matters related to outer space – that is, everything that was not listed ...
... urban growth, soil occupation, education and other applications.
3. In 2011 Russia and India
launched
a scientific-educational satellite called YouthSat to study solar flares and their influence on the Earth.
4. The IBSA trilateral alliance (India, Brazil, South Africa), formalized in 2003, stands for reciprocal exchange of knowledge in S&T sphere in space domain.
5. Surprisingly, in this “adult” realm youth dimension has its voice: in the wake of the first Youth BRICS Summit (2015) Ministers of the ...
... sector-specific areas of cooperation.
It should be recognized that, given the economic situation — like the slowdown in economic growth in many BRICS countries and even its downturns, as well as political factors such as deteriorating situation in Brazil and South Africa, the growing tension between Russia and the leading Western countries, BRICS is being seriously challenged.
Primarily, BRICS carries political content in order to enhance the role of the five countries in global governance and to be not only ...
... association’s opponents emphasize the fact that the BRICS states do not demonstrate a united foreign policy front. For instance, they do not always vote together on important issues in the UN Security Council, and
China does not entirely welcome
India, Brazil, and South Africa’s desire to become permanent members of the Security Council.
Yet political reality tells us different. Recently, the US and the West, without making an open declaration to that effect, have been taking BRICS seriously, which is proved ...
... World Bank — and start to operate in new areas, such as insurance and arbitration services.
Parallel initiatives can also help to improve the bank’s work. For example, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), China’s Silk Road fund, Brazil’s BTG Pactual, South Africa’s DMSA and India’s IDFC all signed an agreement at the BRICS Summit in Ufa on joint investment and infrastructure projects. It is expected that the funds will be used on a bilateral basis with a focus on investment projects and ...
....nl
Infosheet 18, 2013.
30
. Business TASS. November 21, 2012.
31
. South Africa MUST do More to PUT Africa at Core of Commercial, Foreign Policies // Standard Bank. June 12, 2012.
32
. Tjonneland, E. N. Providing Development Aid to Africa. Comparing South Africa with China, India and Brazil. // SAFPI Policy Brief 25. Cape Town: South African Foreign Policy Initiative. 2013.
33
. Kandalinstev, V. The BRICS Countries in the Flow of Foreign Direct Investments // Eastern Analytics. Yearbook 2012. Economics and Politics of Eastern Countries....
... expansion of sanctions and hasty military intervention, whereas it is preventive diplomacy and peacekeeping operations that must become the key tools.
BRICS Countries in Peacemaking
India indisputably outnumbers its BRICS partners and is followed by Brazil, with South Africa and China trailing behind. Russia is the unquestionable underachiever, with the numbers of its military and police in the UN missions on a clear downward spiral.
During the past decade, Western countries have been curtailing their participation ...