BRICS PLUS PLUS
America lurches blind into the future
To the blind all things are sudden. (Marshall McLuhan)
Larry Johnson over at sonar21.com observed on Friday that American mainstream media was remarkably silent on three very important topics this week: the war in Ukraine, war in the Middle East, and the BRICS+ summit in Kazan, Russia.
I suspect that astute observers of America’s mainstream media have already figured out that a dearth of information on a particular topic is itself a form of information. Those people have undoubtedly all consulted the blog-o-sphere to find out what happened in Ukraine and Israel this week that was so bad that the mainstream media were panicked en masse into: “Nothing to see here!”
The BRICS summit in Kazan was arguably by far the most important story of the week. Americans who rely only on mainstream media probably do not even know that this hugely important global summit took place.
Why was this summit important?
Probably the most important outcome of the BRICS+ summit was that the current BRICS+ members welcomed thirteen new countries into the the BRICS+ alliance as ‘partners.’ (‘Partner’ is the new first step towards being a full BRICS+ member.)
Before the Kazan summit, the nine BRICS countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the UAE had a combined population of 3,641 million people (44.5% of global population), while the G7 nations - the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and Canada had a combined population of only 801 million people. (9.8% of global population)
Just look at what happens with the addition of these 13 new ‘partners’ to BRICS+:
Nigeria: 233 million
Indonesia: 283 million
Malaysia: 36 million
Thailand: 72 million
Vietnam: 101 million
Turkey: 87 million
Uganda: 50 million
Algeria: 47 million
Kazakhstan: 21 million
Uzbekistan: 36 million
Cuba: 11 million
Bolivia: 12 million
Belarus: 9 million
Total for the new BRICS+ partners: 998 million people. (12.2% of global population)
Am I the only one who finds it astounding that the BRICS bloc just ADDED almost a billion people to their coalition? That’s more than the ENTIRE population of the G7 bloc!
With the addition of these 13 new partners the BRICS++ nations represent more than 4.6 billion people - that’s 56% of the global population.
As of today, more than half of the world’s population lives under the BRICS++ umbrella.
It should also be noted that only about half the countries that had applied for BRICS membership this year were admitted as new partners at Kazan. So another big jump in BRICS++’s global influence could happen again this time next year.
That wasn’t the only big story to come out of Kazan:
United Nations: Antonio Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, was there in Kazan, desperately trying to mend fences. Let’s not put too fine a point on it: If the 22 BRICS countries were all to pull out of the United Nations tomorrow, the UN would move from impotence to complete irrelevance in the blink of an eye. Guterres knows this.
America-Bashing: The BRICS members talked a great deal about the the ideal of a “global community of peace-loving equals” within BRICS where “every nation’s sovereignty is celebrated and respected.” Less idealistically, some BRICs members worked tirelessly to paint the United States as a ‘global bully’, and the European nations as having been ‘exploitative imperialists for centuries’ - with the subtext that BRICS++ offers a safe haven from all that bullying and exploitation.
Mahmood Abbas, President of the State of Palestine, was celebrated at Kazan. Russia, Turkey and Iran all gave speeches condemning Israeli actions in Gaza and Lebanon to an enthusiastic audience. Russia, China, and Iran certainly made full use of the opportunity to cast America as Israel’s junior partner in genocide.
China-India Rapprochement: China and India have now apparently patched up their differences over border issues. Friction between India and China was always the BRICS hidden weakness. At this point, it seems apparent that India has decided that the best way to never have China as an enemy is to make it an important ally and trading partner. I suspect that Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam were thinking along the same lines: One way to not be nervous of the military power of India and/or China is to embrace them as friends and allies.
De-Dollarization: Apparently all sorts of side-deals were negotiated at Kazan for countries to ditch the US dollar in favour of local currencies in bi-lateral trade. (Even wannabe BRICS+ members were involved in these negotiations.) The more BRICS+ nations trade in their own currencies, the less they will need to keep US dollar reserves. Who is going to buy all those US Treasuries? And how can a deeply-indebted US Government borrow trillions of dollars more from the rest of the world under such circumstances?
BRICS-Pay Cards: Delegates at the Kaza conference were able to use BRICS-pay cards to buy small items at the conference and at selected locations in the city of Kazan. Expect that idea to grow quickly as the BRICS+ alternative to Visa and Mastercard.
Efforts to create a global alternative to the dollar-dominated SWIFT inter-bank settlement mechanism have thus far proceeded very slowly. I suspect that the addition of the 13 new BRICS+ partners will spur the development of regional inter-bank settlement structures in Africa, South America, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Linking those regional systems would then make possible a global BRICS+ replacement for SWIFT.
That 100-BRICS Bill: Vladimir Putin waved around a mock-up of a 100-BRICS note. A Gold-backed BRICS currency is probably still a few years in the future. When it arrives, it will greatly ease and simplify trading between BRICS members.
The BRICS Development Bank: This new BRICS international loan facility was touted as a user-friendly alternative to the American-dominated IMF and World Bank. A common use for the new BRICS bank will be transportation infrastructure loans to better connect BRICS member states to each other.
Potential New Cartels: It was noted at Kazan that collectively the 22 nations of BRICS ++ now hold massive stakes in a whole slew of important commodities: oil and gas, uranium, grain, nickel, lithium, and rare-earth minerals, to name a few.
Bribes and threats from the United States have so far dissuaded Saudi Arabia from officially joining BRICS+. I have to suspect they’ll be unwilling to remain on the sidelines very long once the various BRICS++ oil-producers begin crafting production agreements!
Putin has promised to be benevolent as the leader of a global grain cartel. We’ll see.
Economic Growth: Vladimir Putin was almost gleeful at Kazan in talking about how the developing world is out-performing the G7 nations.
Consider this chart from Visual Capitalist comparing the 2024 economic growth forecasts for the G7 nations vs the BRICS:
All seven G7 nations are projected to see economic growth well below the global average, while six of the nine BRICS + nations are projected to see growth equal to or greater than average. To paraphrase Putin: ”The G7 is the past; BRICS++ is the future.”
It’s pretty clear that a new era in global geopolitics dawned this week. Most of the world sees that. But, if you’re an American, there’s a good chance you’re cruising blind into that new world.
PS: The Epoch Times has belated covered the Kazan summit in detail, albeit in ways that actively tries to downplay its importance. The Epoch Times have shown a frequent willingness to talk about stories that more mainstream American media won’t touch.
PPS: Here is the most potent anti-war story I have read in quite some time, and it comes from the Jerusalem Post, of all places. Read with caution is you’re naturally squeamish.