Xi And Putin Are Seeking To Expand The Alliance Of BRICS Nations To Challenge The Global Dominance Of The US And The Dollar

Tom Porter  Wed, August 23, 2023  

Putin/BRICS   Russia's President Vladimir Putin attends an informal meeting of leaders of the BRICS countries via video link in Moscow, on August 22, 2023.  China's Xi Jinping is in South Africa this week for the BRICS summit.  China and Russia want to expand the group and challenge the West.  Putin recently touted de-dollarization and renewed calls to use of local currencies for trade.

At this week's BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, the future of the world's leading non-Western economies is at stake.  Russia and China are seeking to remake the alliance, which promotes economic cooperation between members, into a power bloc to challenge the dominance of the US and the dollar.

Addressing the BRICS summit by video link Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin took swipes at the West, and said the summit represented the "global majority."

"This is the essence of the future-oriented strategic course of our association, a course that meets the aspirations of the main part of the world community, the so-called global majority," said Putin, who couldn't attend in person because he is wanted for war crimes.

Russia and China have ambitions for the group that extend beyond its initial purpose to promote mutual prosperity, say analysts.

"China and Russia in particular hope to leverage the group's combined economic weight to counterbalance US and more broadly Western influence in global politics," Graeme Thompson, an analyst with the Eurasia Group, told Insider.

Creating A Power Bloc To Challenge The US

The BRICS are the leading non-Western economies in the world, with the group comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

Together, they make up around 40% of the world's population, around $27.7 trillion of the global economy, and are seen to represent the so-called "Global South" of southern hemisphere nations.

Xi, BRICS Summit

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