Age of Multilateralism: Why is BRICS Important despite Possible Weaknesses? A Perspective from Russia
| Published date | 01 September 2021 |
| Author | Victoria V. Panova |
| Date | 01 September 2021 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.13013 |
Age of Multilateralism: Why is BRICS Important
despite Possible Weaknesses? A Perspective
from Russia
Victoria V. Panova
Far Eastern Federal University
Abstract
This article discusses whether BRICS, a leading global governance mechanism, can revive multilateralism, international law and
interstate cooperation while providing stability at the global, regional and bilateral level. BRICS has created opportunities for
addressing three core themes: politics and security; economics and finance; and humanitarian cooperation. It has evolved into
an entity of like-mined countries, which connects people through vertical and horizontal ties, delivers impactful projects and
builds friendships. BRICS interconnectedness keeps the group intact from issues such as China-India border conflict that could
potentially disrupt BRICS unity. Moreover, the group was not designed to serve as a mediating body and clearly avoids being
drawn into internal BRICS conflicts. To reach its full potential, BRICS must continue to expand the scale of cooperation in
mutually beneficial issue areas and serve as a platform for cooperative projects for its citizens.
The year 2020 became the turning point for all the latent
and ongoing crises brought about by extreme turbulence in
practically all areas of human existence and signalled a dras-
tic need for new solutions. While COVID-19 should have
served as the unifying cause for humanity, the ongoing pan-
demic only aggravated international rivalries and high-
lighted the inability of the existing international institutions
to serve as platforms or instruments of preventing or
managing such crises. The centre stage of this global turbu-
lence is the Sino–American trade war, which has grown into
a full-fledged geopolitical, technological, economic and ideo-
logical struggle. Today, observers no longer think that Sino–
US military clash/clashes is/are unthinkable. Other conflicts
are by no means less important and could as well lead to
the emergence of hot spots, but these do not constitute the
core of today’s turbulence. The current India–China border
conflict is one such conflict that has remained flagrant for
more than nine months despite the involvement of high-
ranking officials from both sides.
1.Where do we come from: origins of the ‘big
five’
When thinking of BRICS, many people remember papers by
Goldman Sachs’O’Neill (2001) and Wilson and Purushotha-
man (2003) that discuss BRIC as an investment acronym.
However, one needs a deeper immersion into the topic to
see beyond the acronym’s marketing/sales proposition and
acknowledge the ideas that enabled the BRICS countries to
stick together and become a key factor in international poli-
tics even after losing the title of best investment destina-
tions. It was the ‘Primakov Doctrine,’named after Yevgeny
Primakov, Russia’s former Prime Minister and Foreign
Minister, that signalled Russia’s awakening to the one-sided
pro-Western policies and endorsement of multi-vector
diplomacy (Kupriyanov, 2019). In short, Primakov claimed
that there are more poles in the world –other than the US
and Europe –that matter. He suggested Russia’s turn to the
East and towards other parts of the world that were impor-
tant for a more balanced and fair global development.
Primakov sought closer cooperation through the Russia,
India and China (RIC) strategic triangle conceptualized in
December 1998 during his visit to New Delhi and with Latin
America, which he previously toured.
Why dwell on the RIC history? Simply because it reminds
us that back then, the two ends of the triangle –China and
India –did not support the RIC idea because of their bilat-
eral problems. In response to Primakov’s proposal to join
RIC, India’s Prime-Minister Vajpayee talked highly of bilateral
relations with Russia, maintained silence regarding China,
and mentioned that no formal proposal had been tabled.
China’s reaction was even harsher: a Chinese Ministry of For-
eign Affairs official said that his country had an ‘indepen-
dent and sovereign foreign policy’and would not join any
alliances (Kommersant, 1998; Mohanty, 2015).
1.
Nevertheless, the beginning of the 21st century and the
changing economic and political realities enabled the three
countries to increase their mutual engagement and led to
the launch of several trilateral contacts on the side-lines of
the UN General Assembly. This evolved into stand-alone
annual meetings of the RIC foreign ministers starting in
2003. Although RIC is still not a full-fledged comprehensive
working mechanism, the commitment from the three coun-
tries is unquestionable. RIC is a good platform for the three
©2021 Durham University and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.Global Policy (2021) 12:4 doi: 10.1111/1758-5899.13013
Global Policy Volume 12 . Issue 4 . September 2021
514
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