This week, Russian President Vladimir Putin brought together more than two dozen countries in Kazan, Russia, to discuss a “new world order” free of Western control and the dollar’s worldwide supremacy.
Thursday marks the conclusion of this year’s three-day BRICS Summit, giving Putin his largest global platform since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
By lessening its reliance on the dollar, the alliance seeks to avoid sanctions imposed by the United States and the West.
“The dollar is being used as a weapon,” Putin stated during the summit. “We can see that this is true. I believe that individuals that do this are making a huge mistake.
In a significant gesture, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi used the summit to express their desire for a more peaceful relationship following decades of cross-border conflict.
It occurred days after China and India agreed to end their four-year military standoff over the disputed Himalayan area.
“Russia-China cooperation in international affairs is one of the main stabilizing factors in the world,” Putin told Xi at the meeting.
Meanwhile, India has been supporting Russia’s economy by purchasing inexpensive oil that has been sanctioned by the majority of the world.
Goldman Sachs analysts coined the term BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) to depict China’s expanding economic hegemony over other emerging markets.
The organization is fast expanding, with Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia joining in January. Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Malaysia formally applied, with Turkey being the first NATO member to express an interest in the organization. Pakistan has also indicated interest in joining the alliance.
The alliance now accounts for half of the world’s population and 35% of global output.
Some member states, such as Egypt, receive US military aid, while the United Arab Emirates (UAE) hosts US military sites.
Russian officials already view the three-day summit as a massive success: Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign policy assistant, claimed 36 countries have confirmed their participation, with 24 sending representatives.
Russia is also seeking more nations to join a payment system that would replace SWIFT, which the West has used to censure Russian officials.
While Russia is promoting an anti-Western agenda at the summit, nations such as Brazil, India, and South Africa prefer a less aggressive tone. They believe that the alliance should be used to shape international institutions to better fulfill the demands of the Global South. They believe they can strive to improve the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to better meet the requirements of developing countries.
Developing an alternative to SWIFT would necessitate BRICS-based currencies and financial institutions conducting worldwide business — yet so far, BRICS countries have not shown a clear plan to replace the USD.
In an address to the summit, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian stated that BRICS must serve as more than a “dialogue club,” and that many of the alliance’s aims have still to be achieved 15 years later.
He slammed the West’s increasingly regular threats of penalties.
“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 pathways defined by them,” said Mr. Putin.
“This monopolistic outlook has resulted in increased violence, war, and terrorism on the one hand, and unprecedented use of economic and political sanctions on the other.”
Dollar assets currently account for approximately 59% of global foreign currency reserves, down from 70% in 1999.
Former President Donald Trump has threatened “100% tariffs” on nations that reject the US dollar, claiming that losing the dollar as the world’s currency would be like “losing a war.”
“I was a sanction user, but I put them on and off as rapidly as possible because they eventually ruin your currency and everything it represents. And we must keep that as the world currency. I believe that is significant. In September, he told the Economic Club in New York that losing the dollar as the world’s reserve currency would be like losing a war.
“That would make us a third-world country. You are losing Russia. “China is out there trying to make their currency the dominant currency.”