BRICS is an international association, which modern experts consider very promising from the point of view of economic and, possibly, political cooperation of its member countries. When is the interaction of states within the framework of this union most active? What are the prospects for attracting new countries to it?
BRICS: nuances of the name
BRICS are among the well-known and very influential, as many experts believe, international associations. There is an interesting aspect of BRICS - decryption. The history of the origin of this abbreviation is also interesting. It is decrypted, of course, simply. True, it must first be translated into the language of origin. In the original, the abbreviation sounds like BRICS. Each letter is the first in the name of each BRICS country. The list of states included in this union is as follows:
- Brazil (Brazil) ;
- Russia (Russia) ;
- India (India) ;
- China (China) ;
- South African Republic.
Thus, the association in question is formed by five states.
But initially there were 4. The abbreviation in its first version was invented by Jim O'Neill, an American economist at Goldman Sachs. By publishing one of his bank's accounting documents in 2001, he applied BRIC to denote promising developing countries, which included those we mentioned above, with the exception of South Africa. Thus, Jim singled out Brazil, Russia, India and China as countries where it is possible to invest profitably because of their rapid economic growth.
The governments of these states, according to many analysts, to a certain extent appreciated the opinion of the expert from Goldman Sachs and began to periodically interact with them to find common ground in economic development. Since 2006, according to a common version, at the initiative of Vladimir Putin, meetings between the heads of the BRIC states, as well as with the participation of senior officials of these countries, began to be held regularly. In 2011, along with the abbreviation BRIC (due to the rapprochement of the powers that form this association with South Africa), another word often appeared in the world press - BRICS. The decoding of the country, marked by Jim O'Neill, and then South Africa, is quite arranged. The sequence of letters means absolutely nothing from the point of view of the influence of a particular state - it is selected based on the principles of harmony.
Organizational Basics
BRICS is an interstate association, but not a formalized structure, like NATO or the UN. She does not have a single focal point, headquarters. However, quite often it is called the "organization". Among the key partnership events in which all the countries forming this association participate is the BRICS summit. Meetings are held in different countries. The consolidating basis of the activity of this international structure, as we have already noted above, is economic integration. Another key goal facing BRICS is to promote the modernization of the economic systems of developing countries. Therefore, experts say, in the foreseeable future, new countries with economies in transition may join this international structure.
Thus, BRICS is an association that was created to jointly solve economic problems. The political aspect of the interaction of the states of this group, as many experts believe, is expressed rather weakly. However, there are prospects for strengthening the corresponding component of cooperation. Consider this nuance in more detail.
The political dimension of cooperation
Actually, the principles for determining how the BRICS abbreviation should sound, the decoding of which countries are members of the union, are characterized mainly by the economic basis. The states of the association in question were consolidated on the basis that their economic systems were transitional and, at the same time, dynamically developing. And therefore, as we noted above, the prospects for the transformation of this union into a political one for a long time were practically not voiced by any of the leaders of these powers. In general, this position is maintained by the BRICS leaders today.
However, many experts note the fact that Russia and China in one way or another influence the political situation in the world, if only for the reason that they are part of the UN Security Council on an ongoing basis. And therefore - despite the fact that so far the relevant aspect of cooperation in the BRICS is not too pronounced - experts assess the potential of this union in the political context very highly. It is believed that right now, in the current situation on the world stage, the BRICS countries adhere to the general principles for solving problems. This means that in the future, experts believe, cooperation between the states of this association in the political field may be sufficiently active.
Economy BRICS
From the point of view of the scale of the national economic systems of the countries that make up the BRICS, this association is among the most powerful in the world. So, about 27% of world GDP falls on the five studied countries. Moreover, the growth dynamics of the economies of the BRICS countries, especially China, allows some economists to say that the corresponding share of this international group in the world economy will only increase.
It can be noted that the BRICS countries have some economic specialization, which determines the competitive advantage of a particular state. It is very arbitrary, but in many respects reflects the specific structure of national economic systems. In particular, the Russian economy is strong at the expense of natural resources, the Chinese - at the expense of industry, the Indian - due to intellectual resources, the Brazilian - due to developed agriculture, South Africa - as in the case of the Russian Federation, due to natural wealth.
At the same time, all BRICS countries have a sufficiently diversified economic system. So, in almost all of them, not only in China, mechanical engineering is developed. Brazil is one of the world leaders in the field of civil aircraft manufacturing, Russia is one of the largest arms exporters on the planet, a significant percentage of which are produced on the basis of the latest technologies.
The countries included in this association, as many experts believe, are able to effectively resist crisis phenomena. For example, the 2008-2009 recession, which affected most countries of the world, did not, as some experts believe, have a pronounced effect on the economy of the five BRICS countries. Each of them was able, in particular, to restore its GDP soon enough, which during the crisis period, as in the case of developed countries, decreased.
Among the most noteworthy initiatives that can become very significant for the global economy, experts highlight the intention of the BRICS countries to create a new international bank, which is under the direct control of the states of this association.
In an economic sense, this union already now, analysts believe, has made the modern world a multipolar one. There is a leading state in terms of the scale of the economic system - the United States. However, its economic opportunities do not far exceed those of most countries of the association in question. BRICS are countries with a GDP of trillions of dollars. In total for all states - almost as much as the US economy is. There is a version that, at purchasing power parity, the economic system of a single country of association - China - is not inferior to the American one.
Let us consider the specifics of positioning our role as the states that form the BRICS. The composition of this association has been disclosed above. These are Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. We define the characteristics of each of the states that are characteristic of their participation in the activities of the international structure that we are studying.
Perspectives of India
According to some analysts, India joined the union in order to modernize its national economic system. As you know, in the 90s the government of this state took a course towards restructuring the economy, developing production, and implementing anti-corruption measures. A large-scale privatization was estimated by some experts. As a result, India is now among the largest economies in the world in terms of GDP. Through interaction with BRICS, the country gains access to new technologies and the experience of partner states.
Chinese interests
The BRICS organization, according to many experts, has a clear leader in the economic aspect. It's about the PRC. Indeed, China today is the second largest economy in the world after the United States. She continues to grow rapidly. However, even though the PRC government has achieved undeniable successes in the economic development of the state, the country is in constant search of reliable partners on the world stage. One of the tools for establishing promising ties for China may be just the union of BRICS. By engaging in appropriate communications, the PRC, according to analysts, finds new markets for goods, reliable suppliers of raw materials, and potential investors.
South African role
South Africa is a state that is considered one of the most economically influential on the African continent. At the same time, according to many experts, it is still a little short of the status of a developed country. And therefore, participation in the BRICS for the republic can be one of the possible channels for enhancing economic growth in order to achieve indicators characteristic of the most advanced in terms of economic development of states. Cooperation with the BRICS countries, as some experts believe, has already played a positive role in giving positive dynamics to the development of many areas of the South African economy, in attracting investment and finding the optimal balance in foreign trade.
Russia and BRICS
Russia has huge reserves of natural resources, as well as significant, according to many experts, technological potential. This makes our country attractive in terms of investing in various fields. Especially now, when due to falling oil prices and uncertain prospects regarding their further dynamics, it is necessary to diversify the economy. In turn, BRICS is a huge market for the Russian Federation (in terms of sales of key export products). In the long term - an instrument to attract investment, especially given the possible sanctions that apply to cooperation between Russia and Western countries.
Brazil to BRICS
Brazil has, as many experts believe, one of the most balanced in the spectrum of national economic systems of the BRICS countries. The composition of the economy of this state can be considered sufficiently diversified. Both agriculture and mechanical engineering are developed. Through cooperation with other BRICS participants, Brazil can count on attracting new investments, as well as gaining access to the latest industrial technologies. In turn, the Brazilian experience of building a model of economic management is estimated by many experts as very positive. It can be taken over by powers that have encountered difficulties in the development and modernization of national economic systems.
BRICS Prospects
What BRICS is - decoding, which countries are included in the association - we have studied. How likely is it that the ranks of the organization in the near future will be replenished with new members? Which countries can BRICS accept? Such experts include, in particular, Mexico, Indonesia and Iran. The BRICS countries, the list of which we have cited at the very beginning of the article, can thus be represented in large numbers.
Most likely, these will be states classified by economists as developing. For them, joining this international union will be dictated by objective reasons related to the modernization of the national economy. In particular, Iran’s modern economy, experts believe, is experiencing some difficulties in terms of interaction with foreign markets. The country's accession to the BRICS could open up enormous opportunities for its national economic system.
At the same time, experts, evaluating the prospects for the further development of this association, often focus on the fact that a number of specific problems are relevant for each of the countries that form it. For example, China, being one of the largest economies in the world, may face a crisis of political development. The communist system, according to some experts, can cause certain difficulties with the transfer of the country's economy to full-fledged market relations. In turn, Brazil has not completely solved the problems associated with the administrative system, there are complex social problems. In South Africa, the consequences of apartheid have not yet been overcome. India is also not well protected from possible social crises (due to the fact that the standard of living of most citizens is not very high). The main problem of Russia, according to experts, is a too large share of the primary sector in the economy. As a result, when oil prices fell by half, the ruble depreciated against the US dollar in almost the same proportion. To rebuild the national economic system of the Russian Federation is quite difficult. However, further integration of the economy of our country with the BRICS may contribute to this.
Many experts associate the development of this international union with the activation of the political channel of state communication. We noted above that the corresponding aspect of cooperation between the countries has not yet been expressed too strongly. However, analysts believe that sooner or later economic interests will also have a political connotation. This may be due, in particular, to the fact that the G7 countries can become BRICS rivals in the aspect of so many areas that are significant for the world market. In particular, in the field of international finance. The fact that the BRICS countries are going to create their own bank, we noted above. It is called, as many analysts believe, to become an alternative to current international structures, such as, for example, the World Bank.