During this year’s BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, it was decided to expand cooperation with new partner countries.Out of 30 interested nations, 13 were granted partner status, which, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, could serve as a gateway to future full membership.
The 13 new partners are Algeria, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam – countries that mainly represent regions often referred to in the BRICS cooperation as the “Global South”.
Among the partner countries, four Southeast Asian nations in particular – Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand – are now expected to strengthen their economic cooperation within the region through their partnership. Turkey and Belarus, both bordering Europe, also appear to be interesting additions to the BRICS circle, not least from a geostrategic but also, of course, an economic perspective.
The BRICS, which originally consisted of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, has grown rapidly in recent years. Earlier this year, countries such as Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates joined as full members. However, in June, the group decided to pause new membership applications to focus on integrating these new members. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov described the new partner country status as a potential gateway for countries to apply for full membership in the future.
No alternative payment system
The Kazan summit also discussed an alternative payment system between the BRICS countries, but this did not materialize.
– As for SWIFT or some alternatives, we have not created and are not creating any alternatives for anything, but nevertheless the issue is very important today, Putin said.
The BRICS summit also addressed a range of global issues, including economic cooperation, so-called sustainable development and local currency trade. The participation of partner countries is part of the BRICS’ stated ambition to develop a more inclusive and equitable global system and to reduce dependence on Western economic institutions.
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German politician Friedrich Merz advocates for welfare cuts while simultaneously wanting to increase both Ukraine aid and military spending.
Liberal democracy is under attack from new “autocratic alliances”, claimed German Chancellor Friedrich Merz this week. In the same breath, he acknowledged that the West’s attractiveness is “noticeably diminishing” and that the world no longer looks up to Western values in the same way as before.
Former BlackRock executive Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron painted a dark picture of the West’s crisis on Friday. Both leaders claim that liberal democracy is under attack from various directions, and according to Merz, it is an “axis of autocratic states” that now challenges the liberal world order.
— The centers of power in the world are shifting to an extent not seen since the end of the Cold War. An axis of autocratic states that challenges the liberal order around the world is directly challenging Western democracies, he claimed.
However, why this axis has formed was not explained in detail. In the same speech, he was forced to acknowledge that the West’s attractiveness is declining:
— The radiance of what we in the West call liberal democracy is noticeably diminishing. It is no longer a given that the world will orient itself towards us, that it will follow our values of liberal democracy.
Merz has also recently stated that Germany can no longer afford to finance the welfare state while advocating for investments in military rearmament and continued support for Ukraine.
Macron finds convenient scapegoat
Macron spoke of a “degeneration of democracy” in Europe and found a convenient scapegoat in social media platforms.
— We’ve been guilty of handing over our public democratic space to social networks owned by big American entrepreneurs and Chinese firms, he said.
However, the possibility that the West’s own policies contributed to this development was not addressed at all by Merz or Macron.
— Democratic debate is turning into a debate of hatred, continued the French president.
Merz, Macron, Polish Prime Minister Tusk and British Prime Minister Starmer. Photo: Number 10/CC BY 2.0
Putin sees multipolar world
Russian President Vladimir Putin presented a completely different analysis on Thursday. At the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi, Russia, he described the development as natural.
— Multipolarity has become a direct consequence of attempts to establish and preserve global hegemony, a response to the obsessive desire to arrange everyone into a single hierarchy, with Western countries at the top, Putin said.
Putin also claimed that democracy is in decline in the West. As an example, he mentioned Romania, where the court invalidated the presidential election last year.
Merz also acknowledged that Europe has become “economically weaker” and that the social promises made are “so much harder to fulfill today than they used to be”.
The solution? Europe must “refocus on its economic competitiveness” and “oppose a new wave of protectionism in the world”. This is essentially the same mantra European leaders have repeated for decades – so far with limited success.
The multipolar world order is already a reality and “no one is ready to play by rules set some place overseas”, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared during the annual Valdai Forum.
He urged European politicians to stop their “anti-Russian hysteria”, claimed that 44,700 Ukrainian soldiers were killed or wounded in September, and called US President Donald Trump a “comfortable conversation partner”.
The world is currently undergoing extensive transformation and the already established multipolar world order is a direct consequence of Western powers’ attempts to establish global hegemony, Putin argued during a speech at the Valdai Forum on Thursday.
The Russian president also outlined the Russian armed forces’ alleged successes in Ukraine and Kiev’s losses, and urged European leaders to address their own countries’ problems instead of engaging in what he described as “anti-Russian hysteria”.
Putin also expressed positive views about the new American administration’s pragmatic approach to international issues.
Nothing is predetermined
The current global situation, characterized by rapid and often dramatic changes, requires readiness for all developments. Individual responsibility is particularly important and “the stakes in the current situation are extremely high”, Putin said.
A multipolar world has already taken shape, according to the Russian president. “Virtually nothing is predetermined. Everything could unfold in different ways. Much depends on the precision, deliberateness, restraint, and thoughtfulness of each international actor’s actions”, he said.
Putin emphasized that in a multipolar world, all countries must seek common ground for their interests. “No one is ready to play by rules set some place overseas”, he stated.
— The relationships within the global majority, the prototype of political practices necessary and effective in a polycentric world, are based on pragmatism and realism, a rejection of bloc philosophy, and the absence of rigid, unilaterally imposed obligations or models with senior and junior partners, Putin explained.
He called the “bloc mentality” that certain countries have in order to trigger confrontation meaningless and anachronistic. New international organizations like BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) are developing today in “the spirit of 21st-century diplomacy”, Putin said. “They are not against anyone; they are for themselves”.
On October 1, the he Plenary Session within the framework of the Valdai Club’s 22nd Annual Meetingvtook place in Sochi, featuring Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Putin stated that the power of the US and its allies reached its peak at the end of the 20th century, but that there is not, and never will be, a force that can govern the world and dictate to everyone “how to breathe”.
— Attempts were made, but they all ended in failure, he said.
The Russian president directed sharp criticism at European politicians who he believes are trying to “patch up holes in the European edifice” by incorrectly creating an image of Russia as an enemy.
— The ruling elites of united Europe continue to whip up hysteria. It turns out that war with the Russians is almost on their doorstep. They repeat this nonsense, this mantra, over and over again, Putin said.
— Frankly, I feel like telling them, calm down, get some rest, and finally, deal with your own issues, he continued.
Russia’s leader also warned that Moscow is closely following the escalating militarization of Europe, and that Russia’s countermeasures “will not be long in coming”. He noted that there are those who hope to deliver a “strategic defeat” to Russia, but argued that even the “most obtuse hardheads” will soon realize that this is impossible.
The situation in Ukraine
Putin placed responsibility for the failed efforts to stop hostilities on “the minority, not the majority”.
— This primarily refers to Europe, which constantly escalates the conflict; there can be seen no other goal that they pursue today, he said.
The Russian president accused the West and their “servants in Kiev” of treating the Ukrainian people as expendable, a “destructive tool in others’ hands”. Putin also stated that Russian armed forces are steadily creating a buffer zone along the entire front line.
— this work is proceeding smoothly, calmly, and according to plan… As of today, the Russian army is the most combat-ready army, Putin claimed, asserting that while Russian armed forces have indeed suffered losses, these are much smaller than those of the Ukrainian military.
Russian troops have, according to him, captured two-thirds of Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region and taken Kirovsk in Donetsk under their full control. The settlement of Yunakovka in the Sumy region is under Russian army control and Volchansk in the Kharkiv region is half-controlled.
Russian troops have entered Seversk, Konstantinovka and Krasnoarmeysk in the Donetsk People’s Republic, and need only to liberate 0.13 percent of the territory in the Luhansk People’s Republic.
He claimed there is “confusion in the ranks of the Ukrainian military” and that they do not understand what is happening on the front line. The Ukrainian army lost around 44,700 soldiers at the engagement line in September, where irreversible losses accounted for half of this figure, according to Putin. From January to August, a total of 150,000 Ukrainian military personnel deserted, he claimed.
Pragmatic view of the US
Putin stated that Russia and the US have different views on many “global problems,” but that “for major powers, this is actually normal”. Solutions to contradictions that would satisfy both sides are entirely possible to find, he argued.
— Whatever the disagreements, if we treat each other with respect, then bargaining, even the toughest and most persistent, will still aim to reach a consensus, and this means that mutually acceptable solutions are possible.
He appreciated that the current American authorities, unlike their predecessors, express their ambitions clearly and distinctly.
— It’s always better to clearly understand what other persons are up to and what they’re trying to achieve than to try to discern the real meaning in a series of understatements, ambiguities, and vague hints.
— We see that the current US administration is guided primarily by the interests of its own country, he continued.
During a visit to Alaska, the restoration of bilateral relations was discussed, since according to Putin they are “not just at an impasse, but at the lowest level in all of recent memory”. Putin further described American President Donald Trump as a comfortable conversation partner who “knows how to listen and hear.”
Furthermore, Russia is ready to support President Trump’s proposal to resolve the conflict in the Gaza Strip if it leads to the creation of two separate states, since this step is key to a “final resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict”, Putin said.
The new Silk Road, also known as Belt and Road, is not just an infrastructure project but also one of the foremost international meeting places outside the Western bloc that currently involves over 150 countries.
This year’s media forum in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province in southwestern China, is the ninth in the series and is attended by media organizations from 87 different countries, including The Nordic Times.
The name of the BRI initiative or less formally “the new Silk Road”, alludes to the famous trade route that for one and a half millennia linked China, Europe and Africa until the 1400s when the Ottoman Empire completely blocked the trade routes.
BRI is an official Chinese economic and diplomatic initiative originally formulated by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013 with a stated foundation in so-called multilateralism, in simpler terms based on dialogue and voluntary exchanges between independent actors. In a broader sense, BRI’s purpose is described as promoting intercultural communication and exchange between nations and civilizations “to contribute to mutual benefits and understanding” and through this method improve conditions for peaceful development and long-term global stability.
A series of major infrastructural projects have emerged from the initiative, with the long-term ambition to create modern transport and trade routes between Europe, Africa, Asia and America. Among the most well-known infrastructure projects already completed are the railway from China to Laos, as well as on Indonesia’s main island of Java and the ports of Hambantota International in Sri Lanka and Gwadar in Pakistan. Hungary and Serbia have been first in Europe to embrace the initiative on both infrastructural and political levels, where a high-speed railway is currently being built between the countries’ capitals Budapest and Belgrade in cooperation with Chinese engineers. The port of Piraeus near Athens, Greece has also become part of the initiative and is currently one of Europe’s largest ports.
Sweden is among the countries, primarily from the US-dominated Western bloc, that have currently chosen not to join the initiative and primarily describe the project as a Chinese “scam” to put countries in debt. Among Western European countries, the only infrastructural participant is currently Luxembourg, which with its large airport has significant air traffic to China.
The new Silk Road encompasses not only infrastructure but also other forums that constitute the currently most significant official international meeting places in China. This year’s forum with a media theme is being held right now in Kunming in southern China between September 16 and 17 with a total of 165 media channels from 87 different countries present, with many leading media outlets primarily from South America, Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe, from Russia this year including news agencies Ria and Tass.
The Nordic Times is so far one of the few media houses from the increasingly isolated Western bloc that is present, in company with among others Discovery Channel and Warner Bros. From Western Europe, there are otherwise a number of smaller media houses present from countries including Denmark, France, Ireland and Germany.
Alongside the media organizations, representatives of a number of state-owned corporate giants involved in the various projects also participated, such as Energy China, China National Nuclear Corporation, China Changan Automobile Group and China Communication Construction Company.
The Nordic Times was also present at last year’s conference in Chengdu, Sichuan Province.
Sky News economic analyst and editor Ed Conway warns that the Western world is drastically underestimating how significant the Eurasian alliance Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is becoming.
According to Conway, the Ukraine war and Western sanctions against Russia have accelerated a historic power shift where China, Russia and India are now forming an increasingly strong counterweight to the G7 countries.
While G7 countries’ exports to Russia have collapsed to almost zero, China’s exports have instead increased dramatically. India has gone from barely importing Russian oil to relying on the country for the majority of its crude oil imports. British analyst Ed Conway argues that the consequences of the Ukraine war extend far beyond Europe’s borders.
“The vast majority of policymakers in Westminster, let alone elsewhere around the UK, have never heard of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation”, Conway writes in his analysis from the summit in Tianjin, China this week.
He believes this grouping of ten Eurasian states – led by China, Russia and India – deserves significantly more attention in Europe.
The analyst identifies February 2022 as a watershed moment. Before the war, G7 countries exported roughly as much to Russia as China did, and Europe was then the largest importer of Russian oil. Today, the figures show a completely different reality. While Western sanctions have decimated G7 trade with Russia, China’s exports have instead exploded.
“Exports of Chinese transportation equipment are up nearly 500%”, Conway notes.
A future without the US?
In parallel, India has undergone a dramatic change in its energy purchases. The country has gone from importing “next to no Russian oil to relying on the country for the majority of its crude imports”.
This development has led the US to consider drastic measures. Conway points to how Washington has threatened to impose “secondary tariffs” against India, which would double the tariff level on Indian goods to 50 percent – “one of the highest levels in the world”.
“The upshot of Ukraine, in other words, isn’t just misery and war in Europe. It’s a sharp divergence in economic strategies around the world”, he states.
The analyst identifies a deeper structural change taking place. Asian nations have begun to “envisage something they had never quite imagined before: an economic future that doesn’t depend on the American financial infrastructure”.
Putin, Modi and Xi Jinping during the SCO summit this week. Photo: Kremlin/CC BY 4.0
“Once sworn rivals”
Conway explains that Asian countries have traditionally been the largest buyers of US government bonds, partly to secure dollars for oil purchases. But since the war in Ukraine escalated, Russia has begun selling oil without pricing it in dollars, while many Asian nations have reduced their purchases of US government bonds.
“Part of the explanation for the recent rise in US and UK government bond yields is that there is simply less demand for them from foreign investors than there used to be”, he notes.
A particularly concerning trend for Western leaders is the growing economic weight of SCO countries, and Conway points out that when adjusted for purchasing power, these nations’ share of global GDP is now approaching the combined share of advanced economies.
But perhaps the most surprising development is the rapprochement between China and India, which for long periods have had a very strained, and at times almost openly hostile relationship.
“Something that would have seemed completely implausible only a few years ago”, Conway writes, is that these “once sworn rivals” are now approaching economic reconciliation.
As India now faces harsh US tariffs, the country hardly sees any risk in approaching China through this rare journey to strengthen relations with Beijing, according to the analyst.
Had a fruitful meeting with President Xi Jinping in Tianjin on the sidelines of the SCO Summit. We reviewed the positive momentum in India-China relations since our last meeting in Kazan. We agreed on the importance of maintaining peace and tranquility in border areas and… pic.twitter.com/HBYS5lhe9d
Conway calls the development “a seismic moment in geopolitics” and concludes his analysis with a warning:
“For a long time, the world’s two most populous nations were at loggerheads. Now they are increasingly moving in lockstep with each other. That is a consequence few would have guessed at when Russia invaded Ukraine. Yet it could be of enormous importance for geopolitics in future decades”, he states.
The economic analyst’s conclusion is clear: the Ukraine war and sanctions against Russia have had an unexpected effect. Instead of isolating Russia, it has welded together Asia’s superpowers and accelerated the West’s economic decline.
The SCO was founded in 2001 and has ten member countries: China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus. The organization started as a security policy cooperation but now also encompasses economic and political issues.
The member countries represent over 40 percent of the world's population and when adjusted for purchasing power, SCO countries account for nearly half of global GDP. The organization's secretariat is located in Beijing and the chairmanship rotates between member countries.
G7 (Group of Seven)
The G7 consists of the USA, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Canada. The group was formed in the 1970s as a forum for economic coordination between industrialized liberal democracies. The G7 countries account for approximately 30 percent of global GDP and have long played a central role in the international financial system.
The EU participates in G7 meetings as an observer. Since 2022, the G7 has coordinated economic sanctions against Russia following the war in Ukraine.
