Bulletin No 51 octobre 2024 The 16th BRICS + summit [1] was held in Kazan (capital of Tatarstan, Russian Federation) from October 22 to 24. Thirty-six countries and six international organizations were represented at this summit. The first leaders of China: Xi Jinping, India: Narendra Modi, Russia: Vladimir Putin, South Africa: Cyril Ramaphosa, Turkey: Tayyip Erdogan, Iran: Massoud Pezeshkian participated as well as the Secretary General of the UN Antonio Gutteriez. During this summit, many bilateral meetings took place, sometimes allowing progress in the settlement of local conflicts as is the case between China and India on border issues. We will also note a meeting between V. Putin, President of the Russian Federation, and A. Gutterriez, Secretary General of the UN.
The first lesson that can be learned from this event is that it is a major diplomatic success for President Putin and his country. The fact that after two years of war in Ukraine, more than thirty heads of state and government and heads of international organizations, and the Secretary-General of the UN are making the trip to meet a man that the West is trying to turn into a pariah highlights what is changing in the world and the fact that many countries intend to no longer be under the constraint of the dominant imperialism, that of the United States. Undeniably, the balance of power between the Third World and the developed West is no longer what it was in the 20th century . This reality is also measured by the fact that the countries making up the BRICS+ represent roughly 45% of the world's population and a third of the world's GDP, 43% of oil production and half of mineral production. Note that China alone accounts for 52% of the GDP of BRICS+.
However, it would be a bit hasty to consider that the BRICS+, if they carry a multilateral alternative creating a breach in Euro-Atlantic hegemony, are drawing a new world order freeing itself from capitalist domination to the extent that the constituent countries of the BRICS+ in no way call into question this domination and the very existence of an imperialist system in which they participate. In the new world order that is emerging, it is more a question of claiming and finding a place for these rising capitalist forces by contesting those that dominate and in particular the United States. For China, the BRICS+ are the engine of a change in the world order that serves its interests of power in the face of its major competitor the United States whose preeminence is contested but still far from being overthrown. If the de-dollarization of the global economy is one of the issues of this challenge to US domination, there is still a long way to go and if the BRICS+ are trying to outline the monetary world of tomorrow, the question of a common currency for the BRICS+, the obstacles are numerous in political and economic terms and it would be appropriate to measure it, without underestimating the United States which has not yet reached the status of Paper Tiger ! India, for its part, which plays a subtle balance between dominant and rising imperialism, intends to position itself both as a competitor of China as the world's factory and at the same time open up spaces for development in the expansion of its trade and its influence in the Global South . The case of Turkey, a candidate for membership, is even more ambivalent. NATO's southern flank, which houses part of the United States' nuclear arsenal, rejected by the European Union, it is counting on its participation to develop its network of economic relations in the East and Central Asia to diversify its economic relations. Iran, facing heavy economic sanctions, finds in the BRICS+ a way to emerge from relative isolation and to place itself in proximity to two major nuclear powers, Russia and China.
All these realities are reflected in the final twelve-point declaration of principles adopted by the participants of the Kazan conference.
This declaration strongly insists on the multilateral question by asking the question of a rebalancing in participation in international bodies. This rebalancing, while it underlines the legitimate desire of many countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America to be better recognized as actors in international life, in no way calls into question the nature of these institutions. For the rest, the points of the declaration resemble a series of wishes with which it is difficult to disagree, such as point 7 dealing with the: "peaceful resolution of conflicts". On the situation in Palestine, the declaration speaks out against Israeli policy in the Middle East, for an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages and prisoners by both parties, support for the admission of the State of Palestine to the UN and the two-state solution.
Far from the excitement that grips some commentators on a multilateralism supposed to save the planet from a major military confrontation, it is appropriate in our opinion to analyze the relative success of the BRICS+ approach as a mirror of the intense confrontations within the imperialist system and the will of many States to preserve their interests by slipping between the economic and military blows of the major powers in their confrontations to control and dominate natural resources, communication routes and the workforce. For our party, there are neither good capitalists nor good imperialists, there is the class struggle to put an end to the system of exploitation of Man by Man.
[1] The BRICS+ is composed of the constituent countries of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, joined in 2024 by Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia and Iran to form the BRICS+). Around thirty membership applications are in progress. A circle of associated countries could then be formed awaiting their definitive membership.