The story so far: All eyes this week are on Johannesburg, as leaders of the Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS) grouping are hosted by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. BRICS is essentially a movement of “emerging economies”, and thus gives a salience to economic issues, but given the geopolitical flux especially after the war in Ukraine, this BRICS summit takes on a new importance. It is, therefore, no surprise that many Western capitals are watching the summit closely. French President Emmanuel Macron even suggested he would attend, “if invited”. (France and other Western countries are not invited).
Why is the 15th BRICS summit important?
This BRICS meet comes at an important geopolitical and geoeconomic moment — this is the first in-person summit since 2019 and the COVID-19 pandemic. Even in 2022, when COVID had receded, the remnants of the pandemic remained in China, and the summit was hosted via videoconference. This is also the first in-person meeting since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, an event that has cast a long shadow not only over global stability, but food, fertilizer and fuel (energy) security. Given its composition, BRICS deliberations are perceived to carry a “counter-western” slant, and will be of importance as the U.S. and EU still hope to try and “isolate” Russia over the conflict. This is also the first summit since Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Lula returned to power in Brazil, who represents a more socialist, anti-western politics than his predecessor President Bolsonaro.
