Brics looks increasingly like a paper tiger

THE meeting in Kazan of the Brics-plus group from October 22-24 was a diplomatic and political success for President Vladimir Putin. He was lucky that it was Russia’s turn as chair. However, it disappointed by offering nothing new in economics and finance, and it failed to take any new steps towards de-dollarisation.

Expectations were high. A new cross-border payments system and even a common Brics currency were on the table, with rumours of a petroyuan being established to replace the petrodollar. Russian government officials produced volumes of studies on many topics, ranging from agriculture, education, environment and energy to sports and counter-terrorism.

However, the lack of adoption of any responsibilities by the participating countries and the failure to establish new institutions to manage the transition to a new world order showed a lack of political will to turn these proposals into a reality. This is reflected in the summit declaration.