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New Indian Express
17 hours ago
- Business
- New Indian Express
BRICS summit opens in Brazil with an eye on Trump's tariff policies, Middle East tensions
Three joint statements expected The restraint expected in Rio de Janeiro marks a departure from last year's summit hosted by Russia in Kazan, when the Kremlin sought to develop alternatives to US-dominated payment systems which would allow it to dodge Western sanctions imposed after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. A source involved in the negotiations told journalists Friday that some members of the group want more aggressive language on the situation in Gaza and Israel's attack on Iran. The source spoke under the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the matter publicly. 'Brazil wants to keep the summit as technical as possible,' said Oliver Stuenkel, a professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation think tank and university. Consequently, observers expect a vague final declaration regarding Russia's war in Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East. As well as suiting Brazil, a watered-down and non-controversial statement may be made easier by the absences of Putin and Xi, Stuenkel said. Those two countries have pushed for a stronger anti-Western stance, as opposed to Brazil and India that prefer non-alignment. A Brazilian government official told The Associated Press on Thursday that the group is expected to produce three joint statements and a final declaration, 'all of which less bounded by current geopolitical tensions.' The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the summit's preparations. João Alfredo Nyegray, an international business and geopolitics professor at the Pontifical Catholic University in Parana, said the summit could have played a role in showing an alternative to an unstable world, but won't do so. 'The withdrawal of Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and the uncertainty about the level of representation for countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are confirming the difficulty for the BRICS to establish themselves as a cohesive pole of global leadership,' Nyegray said. 'This moment demands high level articulation, but we are actually seeing dispersion.' Avoid Trump's tariffs Brazil, the country that chairs the bloc, has picked six strategic priorities for the summit: global cooperation in healthcare; trade, investment and finance; climate change; governance for artificial intelligence; peace-making and security; and institutional development. It has decided to focus on less controversial issues, such as promoting trade relations between members and global health, after Trump returned to the White House, said Ana Garcia, a professor at the Rio de Janeiro Federal Rural University. 'Brazil wants the least amount of damage possible and to avoid drawing the attention of the Trump administration to prevent any type of risk to the Brazilian economy,' Garcia said. While Brazil advocated on Sunday for the reform of Western-led global institutions, a cornerstone policy of the group, the country's government wants to avoid becoming the target of tariffs — a predicament it has so far largely escaped. Trump has threatened to impose 100% tariffs against the bloc if they take any moves to undermine the dollar. 'Best opportunity for emerging countries' BRICS was founded by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, but the group last year expanded to include Indonesia, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates. As well as new members, the bloc has 10 strategic partner countries, a category created at last year's summit that includes Belarus, Cuba and Vietnam. That rapid expansion led Brazil to put housekeeping issues — officially termed institutional development — on the agenda to better integrate new members and boost internal cohesion. Despite notable absences, the summit is important for attendees, especially in the context of instability provoked by Trump's tariff wars, said Bruce Scheidl, a researcher at the University of Sao Paulo's BRICS study group. 'The summit offers the best opportunity for emerging countries to respond, in the sense of seeking alternatives and diversifying their economic partnerships,' Scheidl said. For Lula, the summit is a welcome pause from a difficult domestic scenario, marked by a drop in popularity and conflict with Congress. The meeting also represents an opportunity to advance climate negotiations and commitments on protecting the environment before November's COP 30 climate talks in the Amazonian city of Belem.
Boston Globe
2 days ago
- Business
- Boston Globe
An isolated Iran looks to BRICS for allies, testing a new world order
Behind the scenes, divisions over how harshly BRICS should condemn the strikes have tested the alliance's ambitions to rebalance global power dynamics by offering a counterweight to the West. Advertisement 'There is no alignment whatsoever on Iran,' said Oliver Stuenkel, an expert on BRICS and an associate professor at the Getúlio Vargas Foundation, a Brazilian university. 'So the solution was this very inoffensive position.' BRICS was founded in 2009 with the goal of increasing the influence of the world's biggest emerging economies. The group has since grown to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates. Unlike NATO, where military cooperation is central, the group has focused on an economic and geopolitical agenda, though it has struggled to make significant strides on many of its concrete goals, serving so far as a mostly symbolic alliance. Advertisement Analysts expect Iran to use the upcoming summit as an opportunity to shore up more forceful support from the group, particularly in a communique expected to be issued at the end of the meeting. Iran has confirmed it will send a delegation to Brazil, though it is not yet clear who will represent the country or whether it will hold bilateral meetings with members such as Russia and China. 'The optics of being part of the BRICS is very important' for Iran right now, said Sanam Vakil, the director of the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House. But within the group, diverging views on the recent attacks on Iran have highlighted the challenges posed by the alliance's rapid expansion, adding members with competing visions of the bloc's role on the global stage. 'It does make consensus more difficult to have more countries around the table,' Paulo Nogueira Batista Jr., an economist and former vice president of the BRICS development bank. China and Russia see BRICS as a way to challenge the United States' influence on geopolitics and decision-making, and have pushed the group to grow in size. Russia called the US strikes on Iran's nuclear sites an 'unprovoked act of aggression,' while China urged 'restraint' and dialogue. Brazil, which is hosting the summit, condemned the attacks, while trying to avoid souring its relations with the United States, its second-biggest trading partner after China. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has resisted pressure from Russia and China to position BRICS as an anti-Western alliance, analysts said, instead casting the bloc as a way to give developing nations more say. Advertisement 'Brazil is not looking for trouble,' Stuenkel said. 'It is much closer to the United States than to Iran. It has no reason to buy into this fight.' India, another country with close ties to the United States, has also diverged on issues such as the Iran strike. South Africa and Ethiopia have been similarly cautious about alienating the West. This is not the first time that the group has experienced internal division in the face of conflict. After Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the alliance struggled to agree on a common stance, critiquing the West's imposition of sanctions on Moscow without addressing Russia's role in the war. President Vladimir Putin will not attend the gathering in Rio in person but will join virtually, Russia's state media reported. There is a warrant for his arrest related to the invasion of Ukraine that was issued by the International Criminal Court, to which Brazil is a signatory. In a first, China's leader, Xi Jinping, will also skip the summit, after meeting with Lula in Beijing in May and attending the Group of 20 summit in Rio de Janeiro last year. China's premier, Li Qiang, will travel to Brazil instead. Brazil holds the BRICS presidency, and Lula had hoped to cement his nation's image as a leader in pursuing an agenda focused on fairness in global governance and financial systems. But with the conflict involving Iran as a backdrop, analysts say the group will have a hard time forging a united front. 'I just hope we don't see the progress made last year being undone,' said Batista, the economist. Advertisement This article originally appeared in
Time of India
2 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
An isolated Iran looks to BRICS for allies, testing a new world order
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Battered by 12 days of war, Iran stands mostly alone and weakened in the Middle East. Yet the Islamic Republic has found friends elsewhere in the Sunday in Rio de Janeiro, Iran will join a two-day meeting of the BRICS group that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and other countries. It will be a chance for Iran, a newcomer to the group, to show it has powerful allies, even as it faces sanctions and threats of more military strikes over its nuclear Israel and the United States launched military strikes on Iran last month, the BRICS group issued a statement expressing "grave concern" and calling the attacks a breach of international law and the United Nations Charter. Still the alliance, whose members represent more than half of the world's population, stopped short of outright criticizing Israel or the United the scenes, divisions over how harshly BRICS should condemn the strikes have tested the alliance's ambitions to rebalance global power dynamics by offering a counterweight to the West."There is no alignment whatsoever on Iran," said Oliver Stuenkel, an expert on BRICS and an associate professor at the Getúlio Vargas Foundation, a Brazilian was founded in 2009 with the goal of increasing the influence of the world's biggest emerging economies. The group has since grown to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab expect Iran to use the upcoming summit as an opportunity to shore up more forceful support from the group, particularly in a communique expected to be issued at the end of the has confirmed it will send a delegation to Brazil, though it is not yet clear who will represent the country or whether it will hold bilateral meetings with members like Russia and China."The optics of being part of the BRICS is very important" for Iran right now, said Sanam Vakil, the director of the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham and Russia see BRICS as a way to challenge the United States' influence on geopolitics and decision-making, and have pushed the group to grow in President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has resisted pressure from Russia and China to position BRICS as an anti-Western alliance, analysts said, instead casting the bloc as a way to give developing nations more article originally appeared in The New York Times.
New York Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- New York Times
An Isolated Iran Looks to BRICS for Allies, Testing a New World Order
Battered by 12 days of war, Iran stands mostly alone and weakened in the Middle East. Yet the Islamic republic has found friends elsewhere in the world. Starting Sunday in Rio de Janeiro, Iran will join a two-day meeting of the BRICS group that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and other countries. It will be a chance for Iran, a newcomer to the group, to show it has powerful allies, even as it faces sanctions and threats of more military strikes over its nuclear program. After Israel and the United States launched military strikes on Iran last month, the BRICS group issued a statement expressing 'grave concern' and calling the attacks a breach of international law and the United Nations Charter. Still the alliance, whose members represent more than half of the world's population, stopped short of outright criticizing Israel or the United States. Behind the scenes, divisions over how harshly BRICS should condemn the strikes have tested the alliance's ambitions to rebalance global power dynamics by offering a counterweight to the West. 'There is no alignment whatsoever on Iran,' said Oliver Stuenkel, an expert on BRICS and an associate professor at the Getúlio Vargas Foundation, a Brazilian university. 'So the solution was this very inoffensive position.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
