On December 19, 2023, the Valdai Club hosted an expert discussion dedicated to Russia's chairmanship of BRICS in 2024 together with the presentation of the new Valdai Club report, titled “Global Inequality: Will the BRICS Countries Succeed in ‘Steering’ the Global Economy?”
The BRICS association has moved to a new stage of its development. Its expansion by inviting Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, the UAE, Egypt and Iran into the community opens the way to the gradual creation of a different world system. It may not be based on the antagonistic principles of the balance of power or a zero-sum game, but on qualitatively different approaches.
The countries of the world majority are increasingly showing themselves as independent subjects of international relations, freeing themselves from the influence of former metropolises and insisting on independent development. The BRICS can become for them a prototype of a new international architecture, free from the influence of Western coalitions. In such a transcontinental community, participants will expand their interaction and strengthen ties, rather than align themselves against other countries.
In 2024, Russia will chair the new BRICS+ format. The key event of the Russian presidency will obviously be the meeting of heads of state, the BRICS summit, which will be held in Kazan.
Before the summit in South Africa, 23 countries announced their desire to join the community. Should we expect decisions on further expansion next year? Which states can be called the main contenders for joining BRICS? What are the prospects for deepening integration and institutionalising the association? What are Russia’s priorities as chair? Will new settlement mechanisms outside the Western financial infrastructure be discussed? How will the confrontation between Russia and the West affect the BRICS summit? Participants in the discussion tried to answer these and other questions.
Speakers:
- Maria Apanovich, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Demographic and Migration Policy, MGIMO, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia
- Nirmala Dorasamy, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Public Management and Economics, Durban University of Technology, South Africa
- Sherif Ged, Chairman of the Egyptian Alumni Association (Egypt)
- Manoochehr Moradi, Senior Expert, IPIS; Former Ambassador of Iran in Ukraine (2018-2022)
Moderator:
Working languages: Russian, English.