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| 31-October-2024 |
The Kazan Declaration of 23 October 2024, adopted at the 16th BRICS Summit hosted by Russia in the city of Kazan on the Volga river from 22 to 24 October and attended by 36 countries constitutes a pivotal moment for humanity. There is hope in the air, a certain optimism that we can gradually change the paradigm, marshal the world disorder, move away from bloc-mentality, abandon confrontational politics, phase out dependence on the US-dollar, and craft a coherent policy to enhance trade, social and cultural exchange in tandem with the Purposes and Principles of the UN Charter and in the spirit of the UNESCO Constitution.
True enough, US and NATO provocations and war-mongering are not likely to disappear anytime soon. In fact, judging by what we read in the mainstream media, there is a surge in bellicose rhetoric in the West and a real danger that continued escalation will drive humanity to Apocalypse — in which case the UN Charter and the Kazan Declaration will not matter, because we will no longer inhabit planet Earth. Civilizations are not eternal. The Assyrian, Persian, Etruscan, Maya civilizations all went under. We could wake up dead tomorrow – if we do not prevent a nuclear confrontation. As John Lennon sang, “War is over – if you want it”.
While tensions will persist for years, the very existence of BRICS and the future-oriented Kazan Summit offer an alternative to Western nihilism. BRICS has just added 13 new members, and there are dozens more who want to join. This is eloquent proof that the world is changing and will continue to evolve away from US hegemonic fantasies. Indeed, BRICS is far more representative of global realities than the EU or the G-7. The thirteen new members are Algeria, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam – a panorama that encompasses all continents.
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A "rival" bloc to WEestern Imperialism. A leser imperialism dominated one. "This brings us to the rise of the BRICS bloc of countries. BRICS is the acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, the original members. Now in Kazan, there will be the first meeting of BRICS-plus with its new members: Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, the UAE (and maybe Saudi Arabia).
ReplyDeleteThere is much optimistic talk among the left that the emergence of the BRICS grouping will change the balance of economic and political forces globally. It’s true that the five BRICS nations now have a combined GDP larger than that of the G7 in purchasing power parity terms (a measure of what GDP can buy domestically in goods and services). And if you add in the new members that makes the gap even larger.
But there are caveats. First, within the BRICS, it is China that provides the bulk of the BRICS GDP (accounting for 17.6 per cent of global GDP), followed by India at a distant second (7 per cent); while Russia (3.1 per cent), Brazil (2.4 per cent), and South Africa (0.6 per cent) together made up just 6.1 per cent of world GDP. So this is no equally shared economic power within the BRICS. And when we measure GDP per person, the BRICS are nowhere. Even using PPP-adjusted international dollars, the United States’ per-capita GDP amounts to $80,035, more than three times that of China, which amounts to $23,382." https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/10/20/imf-and-brics-no-return-to-bretton-woods/
And an excuse to excuse human righst violations, invasions etc. of the rival to US imperialism. So no suport for Ukrainians, Uyghurs, Rohyingas, Kurds possibly etc.
useful information there Jim
DeleteA panorama that covers all major human rights abusers and tend to be run by diktat. Hardly to be admired.
ReplyDeletePretty much my own view of it
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