Valdai Club – 2023: in search of fair multipolarity
Is fair multipolarity possible? Many wanted to discover the answer to that question during the last Valdai Club 2023.
A speech by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on October 2 at the opening session of the Valdai Club in Sochi outlined the strategic emphasis of Russian diplomacy regarding the promising role of BRICS in geopolitics and world economic relations.
“Fair multipolarity. How to ensure security and development for all”.
“The beginning of the BRICS expansion process. One of the steps indicates the direction of development.”
Presumably, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and some other macro-regional associations are just forms of such self-organisation, which still has a long way to go. « Russia is searching for reliable international partners. The most important issue here is the expansion of BRICS. Initially, five states joined the union. Now, they want to connect another 6, which is not the limit. BRICS – is an association of reliable partners who will not let each other down », – explained the head of Russian diplomacy, specifying that another 20 countries want to establish « special relations » with BRICS.
The head of Russian diplomacy believes that BRICS can replace the United Nations, whose charter requires reform. In this regard, “we also talked about the need for UN reform, the need to create a multipolar world, since the relevance of this issue is already obvious to everyone”, – concluded S. Lavrov.
The financial, economic and foreign policy capacity of BRICS depends on a coordinated foreign, including foreign monetary policy. As well as from the presence of a collective, competitive brix currency. There are no specific solutions to these interrelated issues, although the options are still under discussion.
Expansion of BRICS could be the wrong strategy
The designated entry in BRICS of Argentina conflicts with the announced plans of a candidate for the head of that state. Right-wing populist Javier Milei will, in case of victory in the elections on October 22, abolish the depreciating peso and the national bank and put into circulation the US dollar. They are effectively putting the national monetary and financial system under the complete control of the US Federal Reserve.
If such plans are implemented, advancing the process of creating a common BRICS currency will face additional difficulties. However, Argentina may not participate in this currency (if it is made). However, the presence of the American dollar in the settlements of the BRICS countries will at least continue unless it increases.
BRICS’s search for a FAIR multipolarity should count on unfair actions from Collective West and particularly G-7. Exposing the organisation to the actions of its enemies by expanding it is not a great strategy.
As for the replacement of the UN, it would be impossible to achieve. Why replace one inefficient organisation with another one?
De-dollarisation and dismissal of Anglophone Hegemone will not be achieved without organised and disciplined resistance
American economist Jeffrey Sachs reflects on the negligent prospects of the dollar. By the end of this decade, the dollar will cease to be global. It is due to the stagnation of the American economy, the gradual spread of digital currencies, and geopolitical adventures, such as freezing Russian assets (and not only it). America continues to impose its principles on other states. It uses the dollar as a weapon in economic war and other conflicts. The Centre for Sustainable Development director at Columbia University summarised that the world is already resisting, and this opposition will only increase.
BRICS countries desire to exist independently without alienating the sovereignty of any of its members. This is their strength and their weakness. BRICS is not an alliance as it is a flexible coalition of states insisting on sovereignty.
The influence of the BRICS countries is likely to grow. However, the bloc is much more likely to offer fragmented economic and diplomatic alternatives to the global order led by the United States than radically replace it. To remain effective, the BRICS union needs to manage the priorities of its member countries. These priorities needed to be clarified before the planned extension of the group. This is a challenge that the block will need help to deal with in its current form and organisation.