BRICS Summit 2024: Exploring global conflicts and shifting power dynamics

October 22 to 24 is the set date for the upcoming BRICS summit. It will be held in Kazan, Russia. This event is important as BRICS has a special purpose. It aims to enhance its influence in a world that is more dividend. 

This upcoming summit is special because it follows the recent addition of new members to BRICS. These members belong to Global South. After South Africa’s presidency, Russia has now assumed the leadership role.

Many people are waiting to know the final decisions of this summit. Ten members from different nations will discuss many important topics. Right now, the major focus of the members is two big conflicts across the world. One of the Russia-Ukraine war, while the other is the Middle East conflict such as the Israel-Palestine war. As Russia is the host nation, it is dealing with challenges from both conflicts.  Furthermore, Russia is also a big player in Ukraine’s war. 

Due to NATO expansions near the Russian border, the nation became worried. This concern of Russia ignites the Ukraine conflict. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, NATO is one of the major threats to Russia. 

At the same time, the West stood in favour of Ukraine. This includes the United States and G7 at the top of the list. However, nations in the Global South have mixed views on Russia. At this summit, the BRICS nations expressed their views about conflicts individually. The nations that pass comments include Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, despite knowing that Russia is the main culprit behind the Ukraine war. 

BRICS has also not addressed the Middle East situation together, despite sharing concerns about the worsening conditions in Gaza and Lebanon caused by ongoing violence.

Additionally, there is an urgent need to change or add more members to the United Nations Security Council. Both Russia and China are ‌permanent members of the UNSC. Both of these nations support the idea that South Africa should receive a permanent seat. However, the US, UK, and France do not want that African nation to get the veto power. 

What issues will BRICS 2024 face?

One of the big issues for BRICS 2024 is that its members are moving away from using the United States’ currency, the dollar for trade. This change is called “de-dollarization.” This shift led to a new trade system that harmed the US position on the global trade platform. 

The BRICS Bank, or New Development Bank, is central to this effort and aims to compete with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, which are important US tools for influence.

The major BRICS nations, Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, are powerful in their respective regions. In 2023, they added new members such as  Ethiopia, Egypt, Iran, and the UAE. However, when a new pro-US government took ‌power, Argentina left the committee quickly. 

Russian officials said improving cooperation in politics is the major focus of the summit. Along with this, some other key areas that need attention are the economy and culture among BRICS countries. This year, Russia organized 250 events despite ‌strong Western sanctions. This determination of Russia highlights its strength. 

Many Global South nations refused the idea ‌of aligning with the United States and opposed Russia. This highlights a major shift in global power. It simply means that nations want to make their own independent decisions rather than following the direction of Western countries. Furthermore, the West is also facing many complexities and challenges due to the strong partnership between China and Russia. China is one of the largest expanding nations in terms of economy. Due to this reason, the nation is becoming more influential on the global stage. 

In this BRICS Summit, leaders will shed light on both challenges and exciting opportunities.  The inclusion of oil-rich Gulf States in BRICS is particularly important, as this bloc now represents nearly half of the world’s population and holds a significant share of global oil production.

The BRICS’ power is significant if used wisely. It can easily reshape ‌international relations and solve global conflicts such as the Gaza war.