This week, Russian President Vladimir Putin convened more than two dozen countries to discuss a “new world order” free of Western hegemony and the global dominance of the U.S. dollar.
From Tuesday to Thursday, about two dozen members will arrive in Kazan, Russia, for this year’s BRICS Summit, offering Putin his biggest global platform since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
By reducing dependence on the dollar, the alliance hopes to evade sanctions imposed by the United States and the West.
“The dollar is being used as a weapon,” Putin said at the summit. “We really see that this is the case. I think it is a big mistake on the part of those who do this.”
In a crucial step, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi used the summit to show their hopes for a more harmonious relationship after decades of cross-border conflict.
It came days after China and India reached a deal aimed at ending their four-year military standoff over the disputed Himalayan region.
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This week, Russian President Vladimir Putin convened more than two dozen countries to discuss a “new world order” free of Western hegemony and the global dominance of the U.S. dollar. (Alexander Nemenov/Pool via REUTERS)
“Russia-China cooperation in international affairs is one of the main stabilizing factors in the world,” Putin told Xi at the summit.
Meanwhile, India has been propping up Russia’s economy by buying discounted oil that has been sanctioned by much of the rest of the world.
BRICS (which stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) was an idea devised by Goldman Sachs analysts to describe the growing economic hegemony of China and other emerging markets.
The group is expanding rapidly: Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia joined in January. TurkeyAzerbaijan and Malaysia submitted their formal request; Türkiye being the first NATO member to become interested in the group. Pakistan has also expressed interest in joining the group.
The alliance now represents half of the world’s population and 35% of global production.
Some member states such as Egypt receive US military aid and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) host US military bases.
Russian officials already consider the three-day summit a great success: Putin’s foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said 36 countries have confirmed their participation and 24 will send representatives.
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Russia is also courting more nations to join a payments system that would serve as an alternative to SWIFT, which the West has used to sanction Russian officials.
While Russia pushes an anti-Western agenda at the summit, members such as Brazil, India and South Africa want a less combative tone. They believe the alliance should be used to adapt international institutions to the needs of the Global South. They believe they could work to reform the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to meet the needs of the developing world.
Putin shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan. (Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool via REUTERS)
Creating an alternative to SWIFT would require BRICS-based currencies and financial institutions to conduct international business, and so far BRICS members have not presented a clear plan to replace the dollar.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a speech to the summit that the BRICS must act as more than a “dialogue club” and said that 15 years after the alliance’s creation, many of its goals remain unfulfilled.
He attacked the increasingly frequent threat of sanctions from the West.
“Over more than three decades since the collapse of the bipolar system, it has become increasingly clear that, from the perspective of Western powers, peace, democracy, prosperity and development can only be achieved through paths defined by them,” he said.
“This monopolistic perspective has resulted in an increase in violence, war and terrorism, on the one hand, and an unprecedented use of economic and political sanctions, on the other.”
Putin shakes hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during their meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit. (Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool via REUTERS)
Dollar assets currently represent about 59% of global foreign exchange reserves, up from 70% in 1999.
Former President Donald Trump has promised “100% tariffs” on nations that despise the US dollar, arguing that losing the dollar as a global currency would be like “losing a war.”
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“I was a user of sanctions, but I put them in and take them out as quickly as possible, because ultimately it kills the dollar and it kills everything that the dollar represents. And we have to continue to have that world currency. I think it’s important. I think what it would be like to lose a war if we lost the dollar as a world currency,” he said in September at the Economic Club of New York.
“That would make us a Third World country. You’re losing Russia. China is out there trying to make their currency the dominant currency.”
