A comprehensive cooperation framework in the political, economic, social, cultural, environmental and technical realms facilitates South-South. Developing nations pool their knowledge, skills, expertise and resources through South-South cooperation to achieve their development objectives via coordinated efforts. It can happen regionally, bilaterally, intraregional or interregional, involving two or more developing countries.
Another modality of South-South cooperation is triangular cooperation, a collaboration in which traditional donor countries and multilateral organizations facilitate South-South initiatives by providing funding, training, management, technological systems and other forms of support. South-South trade has expanded more quickly in the past two decades than North-South trade.
The most common kind of collaboration, known as North-South cooperation, occurs when a developed country provides financial support—or other resources—to a less fortunate nation in the event of a natural disaster or humanitarian calamity.
Although the increased resource inflows, particularly to the benefit of emerging nations, are the main benefits of the current South-South cooperation, many African governments still face formidable obstacles. This results from the growing reliance on raw materials and the more substantial pressure of competition from Asian countries.
In addition, it has been argued that the relations between China and Africa could not represent South-South relations. The irony is that China, which has the second-biggest economy in the world behind the United States and plans to surpass the United States by 2025, is still categorized as a developing nation despite having already surpassed Japan, Germany and India.
The situation in many developing countries, particularly Africa, is very different. According to the UN Development Programme, around 80% of the low human development countries with high population growth rates, low literacy, low income and short life expectancy are in Africa. The question to be asked is why the second-largest economy in the world, with a seat on the UN Security Council, is still considered a “South”?
BRICS
Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa comprise the informal alliance called BRICS. Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed the first-ever BRIC ministerial meeting on Sept. 20, 2006, outside of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York. The meeting was attended by the defense minister of India and the foreign ministers of Brazil, China and Russia.
On July 9, 2008, Putin met with former Chinese President Hu Jintao, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh outside the G8 Summit in Toyako, Hokkaido, Japan. This was another significant step.
The inaugural BRIC summit was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on June 16, 2009, initiated by Russia. Following the summit, the BRIC leaders released a united statement. According to the charter, one declared goal is to “promote dialogue and cooperation among countries in an incremental, proactive, pragmatic, open and transparent way.”
BRIC leaders agreed to open several new spheres of cooperation—youth, migration, industry, energy, peacekeeping, environment and the fight against infectious diseases. The Russian side also revealed a plan for commercial, economic and investment cooperation among the BRICS countries, which presently has more than 60 proposals for collaboration from Russian firms.
BRICS as a Challenge for Western Hegemony
The BRICS countries’ expanding economic power, role as one of the primary engines of global economic development, sizable population and wealth of natural resources threaten Western hegemony in the world economy.
According to the BRICS portal: In 2013, BRICS accounted for about 27% of the global gross domestic product (GDP) in purchasing power parity (PPP) of their national currencies. The BRICS countries overtook the G7 nations (Canada, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, United States and United Kingdom) share of the world’s total GDP in PPP terms in 2018. By 2024, the difference had increased even further, with the BRICS now holding 35% of the world’s GDP compared to 30% held by the G7 countries. The total BRICS population is 2.88 billion (42% of the global population).
On July 16, 2014, Brasilia hosted the second meeting in this format, which involved South American heads of state and government. This practice makes it possible to find important contact points between BRICS and new leading power centers emerging worldwide.
Over the years, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa have been attempting to reach a consensus on common viewpoints on essential international agenda items. Among these is a call for more representative financial governance, which aims at the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) voting and quota systems.
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, to deal with the consequences of the health crisis, they used their bank, the New Development Bank (NDB), to offer emergency credit lines. The BRICS group’s scope and vigor are best exemplified by the NDB, which mirrors their discontent with global financial governance without challenging it. From 2016 to 2022, the NDB sanctioned 123 projects totaling more than $30 billion to supplement current lines of credit.
In addition, they came to a consensus on several financial and economic issues, such as the World Bank and IMF reforms, the formation of the BRICS Exchanges Alliance and the BRICS Interbank Cooperation Mechanism, which allows for the extension of credit facilities in local currency.
There is disagreement among academics over whether a new BRICS currency might undermine the U.S. dollar’s hegemony. However, if a new BRICS currency was to stabilize against the dollar, it could weaken the power of U.S. sanctions, leading to a further decline in the dollar’s value.
BRICS Expansion
The United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Iran and Egypt became members of BRICS on Jan. 1, 2024. While they have not formally joined, Saudi Arabia and Argentina participate in the organization’s activities as invited countries. It was also anticipated that the inclusion of Argentina, Egypt and Ethiopia in BRICS would bolster the standing of Latin America and Africa in the organization. Ultimately, this announcement improves the representation of the Middle East, Africa and Latin America inside the group.
Argentina was among the first nations to formally submit their candidacy to the BRICS in 2022. Argentina is also interested in joining the NDB. However, when Argentina’s new president, Javier Milei, took office in 2023, he immediately withdrew the nation from its intended admission into the BRICS group of governments.
As middle-power countries try to maneuver under growing geopolitical uncertainties, especially the tensions between the United States and China, two Southeast Asian countries, Malaysia and Thailand, have recently announced their plans to join the BRICS grouping of emerging nations. The admission of these new members heightens the debate about BRICS as a counterbalance to the liberal international order and the G7.
Members of the BRICS bloc countered that the group does not intend to oppose the United States, the G7 or the G20. Instead, it seeks to ensure that international organizations reflect the current power structure and acknowledge the significance of BRICS in global politics and the economy.
Conclusion
The West has controlled the global economy for nearly 200 years, first in Europe and then in the United States. Potential and present BRICS members pose a danger to Western hegemony in the world economy by being able to compete with the seven major industrialized nations.
Will the impact of the BRICS countries—South America, Asia and Africa—which contain a significant amount of the world’s natural resources lead to this change? The answer to this question is still tenuous when one examines the rise of Europe in the 19th century and, subsequently, the United States in the 20th century when they relied on global natural resources, particularly Africa, for their economic success.
The BRICS countries’ increasing economic power, role as significant catalysts for global economic growth, sizable populations and wealth of natural resources serve as the cornerstones of their impact on the world stage.
Will it be able to transform its political influence into real-world results? Could that be interpreted as an opposition to the G7? Academics and the market will further delve into these and related issues.
