{"id":70773,"date":"2016-05-31T02:47:38","date_gmt":"2016-05-31T00:47:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/brics-needs-to-mature-before-it-can-challenge-current-world-order-the-conversation\/"},"modified":"2016-05-31T02:47:38","modified_gmt":"2016-05-31T00:47:38","slug":"brics-needs-to-mature-before-it-can-challenge-current-world-order-the-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/brics-needs-to-mature-before-it-can-challenge-current-world-order-the-conversation\/","title":{"rendered":"BRICS needs to mature before it can challenge current world order | The Conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"

BRICS needs to mature before it can challenge current world order<\/a>: <\/p>\n

BRICS leaders at a meeting ahead of the G20 summit in Turkey in 2015.<\/span> REUTERS\/Mikhail Klimentyev\/RIA Novosti\/Kremlin <\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The rise of non-Western emerging powers like Brazil, Russia, India and China is a reality that has shaped South Africa\u2019s foreign policy under President Jacob Zuma.<\/p>\n

Foreign policy under Zuma has been characterised by his country\u2019s growing closeness with these four countries. The leaders of these countries meet more often than they did in the past. This is the case in the context of their bilateral relationships as well as part of the Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS) grouping.<\/p>\n

Despite criticism that BRICS countries don\u2019t have much in common, there are clear political objectives these nations seek to pursue.<\/p>\n

As a collective they are unhappy with, and critical of, Western dominance of multilateral institutions. This is because they have for many years been on the margins. They\u2019re also dissatisfied with the perceived refusal of the West to share global power.<\/p>\n

As a group, BRICS’ disenchantment with the contemporary global system has reinforced its desire to amplify its voice and strengthen its representation in international financial institutions.<\/p>\n

The glue<\/h2>\n

The way in which the grouping has evolved broadly conforms to two central ways in which organisations and associations form. Firstly shared ideas, as opposed to material forces, have primacy over determining the structures of human association. Secondly, the identities of purposive actors are a function of shared ideas and are not decreed by nature.<\/p>\n

An example is the countries that constitute the Group of Seven (G7). They did not begin with positively asserted common interests. They emerged as a reaction to a world whose financial and economic pillars were perceived to be unstable.<\/p>\n

The G7 \u2013 now the G8 \u2013 would later evolve to become the intellectual guardian of the International Monetary Fund, presiding over \u201cnearly all the policy innovations within the Fund\u201d. The G7 continues to exist as a separate group that influences the G20 \u2013 an informal group of finance ministers and central bank governors from 20 influential economies.<\/p>\n

In the same vein it is possible to see in the BRICS the potential for policy innovation. This is true in existing multilateral structures and those that it creates in parallel. One such policy innovation is the New Development Bank as well as the emerging global landscape of infrastructure financing.<\/p>\n

The BRICs bank<\/h2>\n

The BRICS bank is positioning itself to play a significant role in areas in which international financial institutions are seen to have failed. This includes infrastructure development and improving the international monetary system. Lou Jiwei, China\u2019s Finance Minister, has remarked that:<\/p>\n

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The bank will aim at reform of global economic governance.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The bank has recently made loans of US$ 811 million to entities in four BRICS countries towards energy infrastructure. This is made up of:<\/p>\n