How the new BRICS countries will strengthen Russia

By Evgeny Pozdnyakov

From January 1, 2024, six new states will join the BRICS. The organization significantly increases its influence, developing new regions and gaining a foothold in old ones. What can the association offer to new members, what potential do they have, and how beneficial is the BRICS expansion process for Russia?
As a result of the 15th BRICS summit, six new states were announced to join the organization. This was announced by the President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa. He specified that from 2024, Argentina, Egypt, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia will become members of the bloc.

It is estimated that the enlarged BRICS will more than double the size of the G7 in terms of area and more than quadruple in population. The participating countries also signed the final declaration of the summit, which was called "Johannesburg-2". According to Rafamosa, the states of the association are concerned about the current conflicts in the world and are in favor of their peaceful solution through dialogue.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called the discussion of the declaration difficult. However, in his opinion, the leader of South Africa showed amazing diplomatic skill in agreeing on all positions, including the expansion of the BRICS. During his speech at the meeting in the BRICS plus/outreach format, the head of the Russian Federation said that he hoped for the strengthening of friendly relations both between the countries of the "five" and with future members of the organization. This was reported on the official website of the president.

The day before, Vladimir Putin also announced Moscow's readiness to work on admitting new members to the bloc. It is interesting that such a significant expansion will occur in the year when Russia will preside over the BRICS. Moreover, the countries of the association fully supported the similar role of the Russian Federation in 2024.

“Thanks to the efforts of Russia and our President, BRICS as an organization has come a long way. At the heart of the interaction of the participating countries is the desire for sovereignty and support for traditional values. Today, our country is a stronghold of these qualities in the world, which attracts other states,” Senator Konstantin Dolgov said .

“In addition, many countries see the desire of Russia to resist Western hegemony. We contain neo-colonialism in Ukraine, the Middle East and a number of other regions, especially in Africa. This pushes states to cooperate with Moscow and join the BRICS,” he notes.

“Thus, Russia, together with partners, launched the process of forming a new multipolar world, and BRICS became one of its foundations. The organization attracts countries that wish to cooperate on the basis of mutual respect and international law,” the interlocutor emphasizes.

“BRICS has become one of the most actively developing international organizations. Already, it has overtaken the G7 in terms of its contribution to the global financial system. Now we are striving to ensure economic sovereignty and security by eliminating the dollar as a means of payment between member countries,” the senator emphasizes.

“The development of these trends will continue during Russia's BRICS chairmanship next year. We have built a powerful program. We will work not only in the economic direction, but also in the political, cultural and humanitarian areas. Thus, BRICS will become an even more promising association,” Dolgov believes.

However, Russia faces a difficult task - to organize the most comfortable environment for "newbies". In this regard, Moscow needs to create such working conditions in which the new member countries will be able to reveal their potential and cooperate mutually beneficially both with the Russian Federation and with other countries of the association. The experts also pointed out a number of unique features of the new members of the club.

Argentina

“This Latin American country has suffered from the negative impact of global economic institutions. In fact, due to the unfair policy of Western financial institutions, Buenos Aires experienced a series of defaults, which seriously slowed down the development of a fairly promising country,” said political scientist Ivan Lizan.

“Thus, joining the BRICS for Argentina is an opportunity to get out of the permanent crisis. In addition, the state is a neighbor of Brazil, a longtime member of the organization. Accordingly, the upcoming expansion will not only strengthen the position of the bloc in the Latin American region, but also significantly increase the interaction between the two most important countries of the continent,” the expert notes.

Egypt and Ethiopia

“A nice feature of the upcoming entry of new members was the special attention to Africa. From 2024, Egypt and Ethiopia will join the organization. These countries, along with South Africa, are among the five largest economies on the mainland, which allows the BRICS to rightfully consider themselves a repeater of the opinion of another region,” Lizan emphasizes.

“Ethiopia is a country with which Russia has a long history of cooperation. The addition of such an important ally to the bloc is a good opportunity for Moscow to put into practice initiatives that will bring the two states even closer. In the end, joint work within the framework of a large association will make it possible to use the potential of other countries as part of the development of bilateral partnerships,” the political scientist clarifies.

“Cairo is a fairly large player in the international arena, which is experiencing serious problems in dialogue with the United States. It has something to offer the organization in terms of trade, and joining the bloc will increase its ability to influence current geopolitical processes. And in general, we also have historically close relations with Egypt ,” he emphasizes.

It is also interesting that there have long been contradictions between the two countries over the construction of the Hydase hydroelectric power station by Addis Ababa. Therefore, building up ties within the organization is quite capable of softening the positions of the parties in relation to each other and even solving the existing problem.

Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iran

“Saudi Arabia has long relied on partnership with the United States, but after Joe Biden came to power, its relations with Washington deteriorated markedly. Riyadh needed to rethink its own approaches to foreign policy. Hence the strengthening of foreign economic relations with China, as well as active work with Russia within the framework of OPEC +, ”the economist notes.

“The UAE will also join the bloc. This is a small but economically developed state. The financial institutions of the Emirates will be an excellent platform for building up our cooperation with the region. In addition, Abu Dhabi will be able to fruitfully influence the intensification of ties between the countries of the Persian Gulf, which may soon also join the BRICS,” Lizan believes.

“Iran's entry into the organization looks quite interesting. Tehran has had tense relations with Saudi Arabia for a long time, but today these states have embarked on the path of establishing contacts. In addition, the country is the most anti-American of all the announced newcomers,” he emphasizes.

“It is quite possible that with this calculation Iran was accepted into the BRICS. The organization is trying to pave the vector of rivalry with the United States, however, with the exception of China and Russia, other members of the bloc are still not ready to make such a radical transformation in foreign policy. Tehran is able to give cooperation the necessary vector of competition with Western countries,” the expert clarifies.

“In addition, Iran is interested in economic contacts with major powers, since it has been under sanctions pressure from Washington for a long time. Of course, the country has coped well with its burden up to this point, but the intensification of partnership through the BRICS can improve the economic situation of the Islamic Republic,” Lizan emphasizes.

"Insulation rolls in a ditch"

Analysts also note that the BRICS summit once again showed the impossibility of a geopolitical "cancellation" of Russia. “Isolation”, like burning Western tanks, is lying in a ditch,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova noted in her Telegram channel . In addition, the representative of the diplomatic department expressed the opinion that the expansion of the BRICS does not pose a threat to the United States.

Against this background, the process of including new countries into the organization is extremely significant. As Gleb Kuznetsov, head of the EISI Expert Council, notes , “a breakthrough has been achieved at the summit, and a complex breakthrough at that.”

“Firstly, a document on the rules for co-opting new members to BRICS has been agreed upon. And secondly, since 2024, a number of states have been announced to join the BRICS: the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Iran. This is really a dramatic change in the situation around the BRICS,” the analyst believes.

“The emergence of such rich countries as Saudi Arabia and the UAE allows us to count on the expansion of opportunities for financing projects within the BRICS Bank,” Kuznetsov notes. He calls the announcement of the next summit in Kazan, at which, it seems, "the further expansion of the organization will be announced" the main result of the meeting.

“In addition, the expansion of the BRICS clearly demonstrates the demand in the world to reduce the level of influence of Western countries. Joining the association of six new states allows to significantly expand the influence of the organization in significant regions of the planet. The bloc will be significantly strengthened in Latin America and Africa,” said Vadim Trukhachev, Associate Professor at the Department of Foreign Regional Studies and Foreign Policy of the Russian State University for the Humanities.

“A new territory is also opening up – the Persian Gulf. This is a good sign, because for a long time the United States tried to "master" here. Now they will have to forget about the liberties that they allowed themselves in the Middle East. It is also interesting that the states that are very different from each other show attention to the BRICS,” the political scientist notes.

“The bloc is increasingly strengthening its status as a representative of the interests of the multipolar world.

The organization brought together countries that are far from close in culture, which, however, wish to work together towards the future. This opens up opportunities for other important countries, such as Mexico and Indonesia, to join the association,” the analyst emphasizes.

“BRICS has proven itself as a platform where different states can be heard and understood. This is what attracts new members. For them, the bloc becomes a kind of opportunity to strengthen their positions in the international arena. In addition, cooperation within the organization allows you to strengthen your own independence from the political and economic institutions of Western countries,” the interlocutor emphasizes.

“For Russia, the expansion of the BRICS is certainly an important achievement. Now Moscow gets the opportunity to speak out through the organization on behalf of most of the world. This also brings the transformation of the association into a significant alternative to the "Big Seven," the political scientist clarifies.

“Of course, the pressure from the G7 will not disappear in one year. Nevertheless, BRICS has already surpassed the western forum in terms of area and population of the participating countries. With due desire, the organization is quite capable of competing with the once elite club. However, for this it is necessary to increase cooperation within the association in all areas,” Trukhachev sums up.
This article originally appeared in Russian at vz.ru