12-07-2025: In a world beset with seemingly intractable problems, the 17th Summit of the BRICS bloc in Rio De Janeiro comes as somewhat of a welcome relief. With the traditional Western colonial powers increasingly losing the preeminent position they held for 500 years, and especially the decline of the USA (United States of America) as the unipolar hegemon, a new multipolar world is rising to take its place. The Global South led BRICS alliance is the main, but not the only, axis of this new geopolitical reality. BRICS has now expanded to include 10 member states (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates) and 10 partner states (Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam). For the first time, a financial and economic alternative to imperialism is being constructed, as only in recent years has a material basis emerged for this alternative. Largely, but not entirely, this material basis is the powerhouse socialistic economy of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
Multiple aims
BRICS is much more than just an economic alternative. It has a long way to go, as it is currently a forum with no permanent staff and no permanent offices. Yet it cannot be ignored, no matter how much the Western corporate media attempts to disparage its achievements. BRICS now represents 55.61% of the world’s population, and 43.93% of the global economy when the combined states Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is measured at Purchasing Power Parity (PPP).[1] The BRICS states hold 72% of the world’s reserves of rare earth minerals, 43.6% of global oil production and 36% of the world’s natural gas production.[2] In renewable energy, the BRICS states hold in-development projects which comprise 95% of the capacity estimated to be needed to achieve a global tripling by 2030.[3] With such a stunning economic base, BRICS will inevitably develop into a political and even cultural alternative to a Western led world which offers little but chaos. BRICS is also an attempt to give the Global South a greater voice in global governance, with aims to once and for all end the monopoly of the security council in the United Nations (UN). It is also an effort to strengthen multilateralism, to defend international law, and a drive towards a more equitable global order.
The Western media has made much of the fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin was not in attendance in Rio. Yet the fact is that the NATO powers could easily shoot down a plane carrying the Russian President, or force it to the ground, on such a long flight to Latin America. The Russian Federation is effectively defeating NATO in Ukraine, and the West has form with these abominable tactics. In 2013, imperialism grounded the plane carrying Bolivian President Evo Morales, forcing it to land in Austria the day after Morales gave an interview raising the prospect that Bolivia may decide to grant whistleblower Edward Snowden asylum.[4] It is NOT because Putin has an arrest warrant out for him from the International Criminal Court (on completely bogus charges), because the Brazilian government would not attempt to action this in any case. The public reasons why PRC President Xi Jinping is not in personal attendance are several, but it may just be because President Xi is staying home out of solidarity with the closest personal and political ally of the Asian superpower. Nevertheless, with the rotating presidency of BRICS currently with Brazil, the 17th Summit was convened, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attending for his President, and Chinese Premier Li Qiang attending in place of President Xi.
Joint Declaration
Despite Western aspersions that the BRICS states are so heterogenous that they can scarcely agree between themselves, the Rio Summit issued a 126 point Joint Declaration covering commitments on global governance, finance, health, artificial intelligence, climate change and other strategic areas.[5] The Summit officially welcomed Indonesia, attending its first summit as a full member. The Declaration condemned the US/Israeli attacks on Iran and called for the withdrawal of Israeli troops occupying Syria. It reiterated its position calling for a two-state solution in Israel and Palestine, based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital. It demanded a total ceasefire and the release of all hostages in the latest phase of the war in response to October 7. The declaration also condemned the Pahalgam terrorist attack in Kashmir on the 22nd of April. It condemned the Ukrainian attacks on the Bryansk, Kursk and Voronezh regions of the Russian Federation on the 31st of May.[6]
The expansion of the New Development Bank (NDB or “BRICS Bank”) is important, as the NDB is slated to be the base for a BRICS Cross-border payments system. The NDB has ten member states currently, but Algeria and Colombia are members without being members of BRICS. Nations in the global south do not have to be members of the BRICS to approach the NDB for financial loans and other forms of assistance. If the NDB is able to establish a cross-border payments system, this will nullify the US operated SWIFT system, meaning that it will effectively be off limits to US/Western imposed sanctions. While the BRICS alliance has not yet been able to set up a world reserve currency (this is extremely difficult to do with 20 members with different currencies), BRICS members are themselves conducting more and more trade in their own currencies. This sets up the basis for “de-dollarisation” – the end of the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency.
BRICS is a non-imperialist bloc, comprising almost the whole of the former “Third World”. It represents no less than the decline (and fall?) of the American empire. This is why Washington and its allies must not only wage war on BRICS, and war on Eurasian/Global South integration, but war on the very concept that there can be an alternative to capitalist imperialism. It is no coincidence that Iran is currently the regime change war target, as central as it is to the multipolar world. Plainly, NATO’s proxy war on Russia via Ukraine is also aimed at BRICS, as is the US proxy war on China via Taiwan and the Philippines. Ditto for the repeated colour revolution operations in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
BRICS is not socialist per se, and nor is it revolutionary in itself. However, it is a remarkably progressive step forward not only for the Global South, but also for working people in the Global North. Progressive reforms can lead to either concessions from imperialism, or a battle to prevent its exit from the stage of history. Marxist leadership internationally will need to be forged to prevent this process from being diverted into compromises. War, poverty, exploitation, underdevelopment and climate catastrophes – these burdens of the ancien regime must be brought to an end.
Workers League
E: workersleague@protonmail.com
[1] www.geopoliticaleconomy.com/2025/07/04/brics-expansion-population-gdp-vietnam/ (09-07-2025)
[2] www.brics.br/en/about-the-brics/brics-data (09-07-2025)
[3] www.globalenergymonitor.org/report/energy-in-the-brics/ (09-07-2025)
[4] www.theregister.com/2013/07/03/ecuador_finds_hidden_mic_in_london_embassy/ (09-07-2025)
[5] www.brics.br/en/news/brics-summit-signs-historic-commitment-in-rio-for-more-inclusive-and-sustainable-governance (09-07-2025)
[6] 250705 – BRICS – Leaders Declaration – EN.pdf
Image: http://www.brics.br
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