Valdai Club

In 2020, the BRICS chairmanship passes to Russia. The main areas of work were already identified by President Vladimir Putin at the BRICS summit in Brazil on November 13-14. However, in addition to the specific tasks of this association, there are more general ambitions associated with the global world order. What role can BRICS play in the current system of international relations and in the global economy? What are the features of its work and agenda, or even its uniqueness? These and other issues were discussed during an expert discussion held on December 20 at the Valdai Club.

Timofei Bordachev, programme director of the Valdai Discussion Club, noted in his opening remarks that one of the main trends in international relations today is their increasing anarchism in the sense of erosion and destruction of old - or, rather, previous systems, rules and institutions. On the one hand, the countries and associations are faced with the task to survive, and on the other, to do something with all this. Some have put their hopes in BRICS this regard, but to what extent are they justified?

According to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, “an attractive feature of the BRICS is that this young association can be perceived as an island - or rather, an archipelago - of stability in a rather stormy sea of ​​unpredictable and sometimes rapidly changing circumstances, priorities and approaches.” On the whole, the association is striving to form a multipolar and more democratic world order. According to the speaker, amid conditions of instability it is of great value that the organisation defends respect for national sovereignty, protects the principles and norms of international law and considers a country’s use of unilateral measures for the purpose of coercion illegitimate.

As part of its BRICS chairmanship, Ryabkov said, Russia will uphold a firm commitment to the principles and values ​​of the association, providing a “harmonious and seamless” relay race from Brazil. The main goal of the work is to improve the quality of life of the citizens of the member countries. Currently, an event calendar has already been approved, which includes two summits and twenty ministerial meetings. In general, the BRICS activities cover three main areas, and each has a comprehensive strategy: these are politics and security, economics and finance, as well as cultural and humanitarian contacts, which also receive significant attention.

The potential of BRICS is largely based on the fact, that this association does not offer an alternative to existing international standards, does not compete with anyone and therefore does not impose its agenda. “We would not be able to advance in practical cooperation if we began to adjust this cooperation to changing conditions. Perhaps changes in the world arena will bring certain colours to its activity, but then BRICS will determine whether it needs to send a signal or not,” Ryabkov said. At the same time, now the five members are faced with the task of expanding their influence, and involving other small and medium-sized countries in their activities. This is now partially being implemented within the framework of the BRICS+ and BRICS-outreach projects.

According to Sergey Afontsev, a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and deputy director of IMEMO RAS, in an economic science, in contrast to political science, anarchism is considered a normal aspect of the market economy. While it is regulated by some rules and procedures, there is no need to deal with it, but today we are faced with erosion of both. If at the beginning of the decade international institutions still remained effective, now they are losing both their authority and operationality. On the one hand, we see the decline of institutions such as the WTO or the IMF, and on the other, a general decomposition of a system based on the leadership of one country - the United States, which is now shifting to the position of egoistic hegemony and trying to transform the existing order to derive private benefits.

Properly, it is in the context of this crisis that BRICS must declare itself. “We consider it as a specialized non-regional association of countries, which should claim to change its role in managing the global economy, because the current regime is falling apart, and very rapidly, and regional systems cannot offer alternatives,” the expert said. “What BRICS can and should do is to join the international efforts to develop and implement those rules and procedures that either replace existing ones or reinforce them. A direct recipe in this regard is to develop its own initiatives, working with the G20, which is the latest legitimate and effective international club format. ”

On the other hand, the association needs to learn certain lessons from the work of other international clubs - for example, the G7 or the G20. According to Sergei Afontsev, “the traditional drawback of club mechanisms was that they worked on an ad hoc basis, that is, they responded to problems that arise in a particular country. But we must learn to work on the basis of rules: we have a vision of the world, and we must declare our position on the system of global rules to which the world economy will come in the future - because the old economy will no longer exist. We must become leaders in the transformation of this system. ”

However, this transformation, experts agreed, should not be a violent “remake” of others to suit one’s own interests. Therefore, the main example that the BRICS can bring concerns the ability of states to agree. “We can offer a real alternative and show that it is possible to agree even with the most serious disagreements. Therefore, the BRICS does not exist “instead of something”, but “in addition to something”. ” This was projected during the year of Brazil’s presidency - and Russia will strive for this.