fajar-ramadhan
World leaders from the BRICS coalition are convening in India under a cloud of complex geopolitical pressures and sharp internal disagreements, as member states prepare to tackle contentious security matters alongside their broader economic agenda. The meeting brings together an expanded alliance that is working to elevate its global standing while simultaneously managing serious strategic frictions among its own ranks.
The leaders' summit, taking place in New Delhi on September 12 and 13, represents a high-profile diplomatic undertaking for the host nation. Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in the Indian capital on Friday morning to take part in the proceedings, joining counterparts from across the emerging world for two days of intensive multilateral talks.
A central issue hanging over the New Delhi summit is the ongoing war involving Iran, which joined the coalition in 2024. Tehran has been subjected to attacks from the United States and Israel for more than half a year, prompting it to launch retaliatory actions of its own. The crisis has exposed notable rifts within the bloc, placing Iran and fellow member the United Arab Emirates on opposing sides of the wider regional confrontation.
The assembly in India marks the coalition's third dedicated effort to establish common ground regarding a conflict that has seized international headlines and created heavy economic fallout worldwide. Bringing rivals together under one roof highlights both the potential diplomatic reach of the forum and the severe difficulties involved in harmonizing the positions of its diverse members.
Initially founded by Brazil, Russia, India, and China—and later joined by South Africa—the group has grown considerably in recent years. In addition to Iran and the UAE, the alliance now encompasses Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Indonesia, significantly enlarging its footprint across the Global South as it approaches the milestone of its twentieth anniversary.
As the alliance nears two decades of existence, foreign affairs specialists are examining whether it has genuinely managed to challenge the traditional Western-dominated international architecture. While the group has undeniably contributed to fostering a more multipolar world order, analysts point out that it continues to encounter obstacles in establishing a unified, systematic substitute for Western-led frameworks.
The coalition has succeeded in establishing alternative channels outside Western oversight, granting developing nations enhanced leverage and independent economic avenues. However, the enduring supremacy of the United States dollar and deep-seated differences regarding security and international policy continue to restrict the bloc's capacity for coordinated action.
Despite these hurdles, several researchers suggest that the alliance's efficacy should not be judged solely on whether it can entirely supplant Western institutions. Instead, they argue that its impact is better measured by how effectively it limits the unilateral reach and authority traditionally exercised by the West.
Scholars Octavio Oliveira and Enzo Godinho, affiliated with the BRICS Studies Group at the University of Sao Paulo, observed that the platform serves a vital structural function. While acknowledging that the coalition lacks the institutional mechanisms and specialized capacity of bodies like the United Nations, they stressed that its very existence offers Global South nations an essential forum to amplify their voices and cooperate beyond Western oversight.
The genesis of the alliance traces back to the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis and the breakdown of the World Trade Organization’s Doha Round discussions, which had sought to revamp international trade rules in favor of emerging economies. Developing nations that were poised for rapid economic progress realized that coordinating as a unified group would better ensure their developmental interests were represented on the global stage.
Sean Burges, an associate professor of international studies at Carleton University in Canada, highlighted that the group's core cohesion stems from shared practical objectives rather than an ambition to inherit global administrative burdens. According to Burges, the primary uniting drivers remain the pursuit of lucrative international commercial opportunities and a shared resistance to Western lecturing concerning internal democracy and human rights standards.
Burges emphasized that rather than seeking to dismantle the international order, the alliance has concentrated on creating pragmatic alternative avenues for trade and investment that advance domestic poverty reduction and economic growth. Notable examples of this approach include China's provision of development financing without political stipulations and Brazil's efforts surrounding direct central bank currency exchange mechanisms.
This framework has stimulated a marked increase in commercial and financial transactions not only between core alliance members but throughout the wider Global South. Furthermore, the diminished emphasis on governance-related conditionalities within international aid indicates that established multilateral bodies, such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, are being influenced by the changing global climate.
At the same time, the geopolitical landscape has shifted substantially since the alliance was first established. Policy and geopolitical analyst Guy Burton pointed out that the Western bloc itself has undergone significant internal strain, with relations between the United States and Europe becoming increasingly fractured, creating ambiguity regarding the specific Western entities the coalition is positioned against.
Ultimately, while the economic scale of the enlarged coalition is vast, its ability to translate that sheer mass into cohesive geopolitical strength remains an evolving challenge. As delegates deliberate in New Delhi, the summit underscores the delicate balance between the group's shared economic interests and the strategic divisions that complicate its path forward.
Comments (0)