Elena Panina: BRICS is turning into a collective "Non-West"

МОСКВА, 30 июня 2022, Институт РУССТРАТ. Talks about the expansion of BRICS have been going on for a long time. It is significant that such countries as Algeria, Argentina, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Cambodia, Malaysia, Senegal, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Fiji and Ethiopia took part in the last summit on June 24 in the BRICS Plus format. At the same time, the fact that Argentina and Iran, which did not participate in the BRICS Plus meeting, were the first to apply for membership, does not seem to be accidental. Initially, the BRICS group was created as an association of the largest developing economies in the world. However, in the modern world, it is political decisions that determine the nature of the development of economic ties. It is quite logical that the countries with pronounced geopolitical subjectivity and having their own geopolitical scores with the collective West are the first to join the expanded BRICS. Iran has been a powerful historical power for almost 2,500 years, since the time of Cyrus the Great, and its geopolitical significance cannot be overestimated. The geography itself determines the potential of its influence on the countries of the Arab world up to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf, on Transcaucasia, Central Asia, as well as on the Afpak region (Afghanistan and Pakistan). After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran's state ideology has been anti-Western. Tehran is engaged in a tense struggle with the US-British coalition for influence in Iraq, helping Syria in the fight against terrorism. From an economic point of view, Iran's potential is also great. The Iranian economy is in the world's top 20 in terms of purchasing power parity, the country is third in the world after Saudi Arabia and Venezuela in terms of proven oil resources, and has 16% of the world's proven gas reserves. Since the time of General Juan Domingo Peron, Argentina has also clearly felt its geopolitical role, being one of the regional leaders in Latin America. This role is recognised all over the world. Argentina, not being among the largest economies in the world, is nevertheless a full member of the "Big Twenty". Having survived the unsuccessful war with Great Britain over the Falkland Islands (Malvinas), as well as the collapse of liberal reforms according to IMF prescriptions, the country has an obvious request to find an independent path of development. Today, Argentina is in a difficult economic situation, it has a huge external debt. However, the potential of Argentina as one of the global food exporters has been growing significantly in recent years. For various reasons, both Iran and Argentina are extremely interested in BRICS projects to create new systems of international settlements, alternative to the global hegemony of the dollar. Iran, which is under sanctions, was forced by life itself to opt for "de-dollarisation", the country practically does not use American currency. For Argentina, the transition to a hypothetical new monetary and financial zone would mean an escape from the stranglehold of the IMF, from the pressure of American creditors, who today have an extremely destructive impact on the national economy. In any case, against the background of aggressive pressure by the United States and its allies on potential new BRICS members, the desire of Iran and Argentina to join the community requires a certain foreign policy courage. There is reason to assume that the process of their joining the BRICS will be successful, since both countries do not cause rejection even from India, which until recently was the main opponent of expansion. We can confidently predict that in the near future the process of replenishing the BRICS with new members will continue due to the entry of a number of Asian and African countries. But even now, the expansion of BRICS at the expense of Iran and Argentina is the final departure of the community from the idea of Goldman Sachs analyst Jim O'Neill, who came up with this abbreviation twenty years ago, who decided to designate with this term "developing economies" that are "catching up" with the developed West. We can say that BRICS is confidently turning into a "collective Non-West", from a community of emerging markets it is finally transformed into a community of world powers with pronounced geopolitical subjectivity. Elena Panina, Director of the RUSSTRAT Institute