Thammasat University students interested in ASEAN studies, political science, diplomacy, international relations, history, and related subjects may find it useful to participate in a free 30 October Zoom webinar on BRICS Expansion: Southeast Asian Perspectives and Motivations.
The event, on Wednesday, 30 October 2024 at 8am Bangkok time, is presented by ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore.
BRICS is an intergovernmental organization comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Originally identified to highlight investment opportunities, the grouping evolved into a geopolitical bloc, with their governments meeting annually at formal summits and coordinating multilateral policies since 2009.
Bilateral relations among BRICS are conducted mainly based on non-interference, equality and mutual benefit.
The TU Library collection includes some books about different aspects of BRICS.
Students are welcome to register for the event at this link:
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/4217291464417/WN_owiUNCYKQTmok2qKZvhkrg#/registration
The event website explains:
The expansion of BRICS and the interest of several Southeast Asian countries, including Malaysia and Thailand, in joining this bloc have sparked considerable regional interest. As institutional balancing becomes a strategy of great power competition that pits the US and its Western allies against China and Russia, the decision to join an international bloc where China and Russia are prominent players carries significant geopolitical implications. Understanding the motivations behind some Southeast Asian nations’ enthusiasm for BRICS, juxtaposed with the caution of others, provides crucial insights into the diverse interests and perspectives within the region. This dynamic also reflects how Southeast Asian states pursue different pathways to navigate their interests in an increasingly fragmented global order.
Our seminar aims to explore these issues in depth, reflecting on how geopolitical shifts have reshaped international institutions and how Global South countries—caught in the midst of great power rivalries—exercise their agency and expand their strategic horizons to navigate uncharted waters.
About the Speakers
Dr Shafiah F. Muhibat is Deputy Executive Director for Research Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Indonesia. […]
Dr Jittipat Poonkham is Vice Dean for Academic and International Affairs and Associate Professor in the Faculty of Political Science, Thammasat University. […]
Dr Nguyen Vu Tung is a professor of the Department of International Politics at the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (DAV). […]
Dr Ong Kian-Ming is the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Pro VC) for External Engagement at Taylor’s University and a member of the Board of Directors of the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) from August 2023 for a two-year term. […]
A posting on the website of the Council on Foreign Relations, What Is the BRICS Group and Why Is It Expanding?, explains:
As BRICS grows in both membership and global sway, its expansion comes with divisions among its members old and new on how to set the stage for a revised world order.
Summary
The BRICS group has become a major political force in the last two decades, building on its desire to create a counterweight to Western influence in global institutions.
The group’s expansion in 2023 exemplifies its growing heft, but also brings new disagreements on issues such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russia’s 2024 leadership could intensify the bloc’s anti-West focus, including attempts to edge out the U.S. dollar—but that will be an uphill battle, experts say.
The countries that comprise BRICS—which stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, and now five new members—are an informal grouping of emerging economies hoping to increase their sway in the global order. Established in 2009, BRICS was founded on the premise that international institutions were overly dominated by Western powers and had ceased to serve developing countries. The bloc has sought to coordinate its members’ economic and diplomatic policies, found new financial institutions, and reduce dependence on the U.S. dollar.
However, BRICS has struggled with internal divisions on a range of issues, including relations with the United States and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, its growing membership is both expanding its clout and introducing new tensions. Although some analysts warn that the bloc could undermine the Western-led international order, skeptics say its ambitions to create its own currency and develop a workable alternative to existing institutions face potentially insurmountable challenges.
Why does BRICS matter?
The coalition is not a formal organization, but rather a loose bloc of non-Western economies that coordinate economic and diplomatic efforts around a shared goal. BRICS countries seek to build an alternative to what they see as the dominance of the Western viewpoint in major multilateral groupings, such as the World Bank, the Group of Seven (G7), and the UN Security Council.
The group’s 2024 expansion comes with a range of geopolitical implications. It represents growing economic and demographic heft: the ten BRICS countries now comprise more than a quarter of the global economy and almost half of the world’s population. The group is poised to exert influence over the wars in the Gaza Strip and Ukraine, the shape of the global economic system, the competition between China and the West, and efforts to transition to clean energy.
Growing membership also brings new challenges, however, including increasing pushback from Western counties and divisions within the bloc. Experts say that how BRICS members navigate those tensions will determine whether the group can become a more unified voice on the global stage. […]
What has divided BRICS members?
According to experts, in addition to those challenges implementing their economic vision, the BRICS countries also face increasing internal tensions and rivalry among members. China and India have seen tensions rise over their decades-old border dispute as well as their growing competition for economic and geopolitical leadership of the Global South. The group has already had problems in making decisions; at a foreign ministers’ meeting in New York in September, leaders sought to propose a model for streamlining new additions to the UN Security Council, but the group could not muster an agreement.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has also deepened fissures. It sparked widespread condemnation, Western-led sanctions, and diplomatic pressure to stop trading with Russia, disconcerting its BRICS allies. An International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant for Putin’s arrest over war crimes allegedly committed by Russian forces in Ukraine complicated the 2023 BRICS forum, forcing Putin to stay home or risk arrest by ICC member South Africa. Most BRICS members have sought a middle ground, while other members have largely ignored Western sanctions. Some analysts argue the sanctions on oil and other necessities are in fact pushing the BRICS countries closer together.
Meanwhile, economic and political instability in member countries has also shaken confidence in BRICS efforts. In the past decade, Brazil and South Africa have faced collapsing state capacity, yearslong recessions, chronic corruption, and crumbling infrastructure. China’s economic slump also threatens the group’s dynamism. Other major dividing lines include tensions between democracies and autocracies and long-standing rivalries such as those between Saudi Arabia and Iran and between Egypt and Ethiopia.
Why the expansion?
The push to grow membership is another fault line in the bloc. China and Russia have favored expansion, while Brazil and India were more hesitant, concerned it would dilute their own influence. India’s growing rivalry with China further fueled the desire not to prop up China’s power with a larger group in Beijing’s orbit. […]
(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)