Экономические науки/ 2. Внешнеэкономическая деятельность

Аспирант Елецкий А.Н.

Южный Федеральный университет, Россия

The BRICS in the forming system of the global economic multipolarity

Nowadays economic and political leadership within the world economy is changing rapidly. In 1990s the bipolar geopolitical and geoeconomic dualism was replaced by the unipolar system of American domination. However, the imperfection and contradictions of such hegemony became clear very soon. Even the collective leadership of G7 was unable to respond effectively to the challenges of the rapidly changing world. The economy of developing countries grew faster than the economic system of the traditional leaders. Effective conditions for reshaping of the world system ripened. A lot of new formal and informal associations of states began to appear. One of the most notable groups is BRIC, which later transformed into BRICS (after RSA accession).

For the first time this acronym was coined by a financial analyst of «Goldman Sachs» conglomerate Jim O’Neill in autumn of 2001. Nowadays the group includes the following dynamically developing countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. All the states have a rather rich resource potential. Brazil has great opportunities for development of the agrarian sector, Russia is the world's largest exporter of mineral resources, India has the cheapest intellectual resources, China possesses cheap labor resources and, finally, South Africa is rich in natural resources [1].

The real date of the BRICS establishment may be considered to be on the 16^th of June in 2009 when the first summit in Yekaterinburg took place. According to the results of this meeting, two important decisions were made. Firstly, there was an arrangement that the next BRICS leaders’ summit would be held in 2010 that demonstrated the constant organizational nature of this group. And secondly, the joint statement of the BRIC countries on global food security was made.

During the second meeting of the BRIC leaders held in Brasilia a certain number of international treaties were also signed. It concerned, in particular, the overcoming of the consequences of the last economic crisis. However, the member-states expressed their wish to create a new financial order and mentioned the necessity of a greater influence of BRICS in international organizations such as World Bank and IMF.

The next BRICS summit in China was characterized by the enlargement of BRICS thanks to the accession of South Africa as a fifth full-fledged member of the group. Due to this event, the group was officially renamed into BRICS. At this summit the issues such as the prospects of Russian joining to the WTO, the UN upcoming reforms of the UN and, finally, the Libyan question as the sharpest problem of the world policy. The outcome of the meeting was the joint declaration and the agreement on economic cooperation based on the use of national currencies in mutual deals.

The fourth summit of BRICS was held in New Delhi in 2012. Among the main issues which were discussed at the meeting were anti-crisis policy, the peaceful settlement of the Syrian and Iranian issues and a possible creation of a common bank for BRICS countries.

Eventually, at the fifth summit of BRICS which has recently been taken place in Durban, the countries discussed the trends of a mutual cooperation, including partnership for development, integration and industrialization. The results of this summit manifested themselves in the signing of agreements on financing African infrastructure projects. Nevertheless, last summit turned out to be not as successful as previous ones. Despite the favorable dynamics of economic development during last years, BRICS countries are characterized by an obvious heterogeneity and multidirectional vectors of their development. These features manifested themselves, for example, in urgent undecided issues concerning common BRICS bank’s creation and other things that became clear during the summit in Durban. This situation led to appearance of alternative appraisals regarding the role of BRICS within the world economy and its probable prospects and doubts about effectiveness of this rising alliance and future of other similar groups [2].

However, it’s absolutely evident that the BRICS countries have a rich and multifarious potential. In addition to enormous resources concentrated in these countries, they occupy more than 25 % of the world’s land area, make up 40 % of the world population and have a combined gross domestic product (GDP) over 15,4 trillion US dollars. According to the forecasts of «Goldman Sachs», the economies of 4 core BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) may become dominant and fundamental economic systems of the world economy by 2060 [3].

Leading economists of the BRICS countries developed a so-called «Strategy-2050». It relies on forecasts that all the countries represented in the group would form the preponderant force within the global economy by 2050. Thus, the BRICS has a tangible potential to be a counterbalance to G8 in economic aspects and even in political ones. In order to become more competitive on the world market the BRICS countries began to pay more attention to the development of such spheres as education and national entrepreneurship. These countries focused on the increase of the foreign investment attraction and domestic consumption. It’s necessary to note that the first stage of the long-term BRICS development strategy stipulates that it’s extremely necessary to expand the supply of goods and services to the world market together with the further supply of raw materials, whereas the second stage of this strategy presupposes the dire necessity to increase the share of advanced technologies in the national export in order to become competitive suppliers in this cutting-edge field. As for investments, according to UNCTAD, the BRICS countries are considered as the most investment-attractive states within the world economic system. Moreover, the investment attractiveness of such member-states as Russia and Brazil has recently increased sharply.

It is also necessary to mention the situation concerning relations of this group with other countries and integration groups. The specificity of relations with the United States is determined by dualism and ambiguity. On the one hand, the strengthening of the BRICS role in the world economy and its political weight threaten the stability of American predominance in these areas. But on the other hand, the increase of the BRICS positions contributes to stronger economic relations and political cooperation on many international issues.

Despite the fact that the objectives of the BRICS largely contradict the policy of the European Union, it doesn’t mean that prospects of BRICS-EU cooperation are inevitably doomed to conflicts and confrontation. On the contrary, both organizations are trying to find more and more common points, which testify possible cooperation.

As for Russia, it is very profitable and advantageous to be a member of this group. It is not only the great opportunity to discuss and solve global economic and political problems, but also useful for our country in the context of relations with NATO and Western countries in general, which have to reckon with a probable turn of Russia towards the East.

In conclusion, it’s important to point out that the BRICS, without any doubt, is a new force in the globalizing world economy. According to all forecasts, such countries as Russia, Brazil and India will enter the world’s top 5 economies in the nearest time [4]. In addition, the main advantage of the BRICS countries is that their economies are chiefly based on the real production, not on the speculative financial schemes.

References:

1. Stuenkel O. Will BRICS change the course of history? 29.03.2013. (http://www.zcommunications.org/will-brics-change-the-course-of-history-by-oliver-stuenkel)

2. La Nacion. 29.03.2013. (http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1567934-cumbre-de-paises-emergentes-mucho-ruido-y-pocas-nueces).

3. Global Development Horizons. Multipolarity: The New Global Economy. Washington: The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank. 2012. P.3.

4. World Economic Outlook Update. Gradual Upturn in Global Growth During 2013. January 23, 2013. (http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2013/update/01/index.htm).