From 5 to 11: BRICS Expansion will further Challenge Democracies.
During the last BRICS summit, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, were invited to join the BRICS group, which - if approved - would result in an alliance that covers 46% of the world's population and 37% of global GDP.
Of the 6 countries, only Argentina could be characterized as a democracy (albeit flawed), and two are under international sanctions.
So why do the BRICS countries want them to join?
Or, conversely, what is motivating these 6 nations to join the likes of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa?
Is it to:
Reshuffle the world order?
Lend global clout to BRICS?
Give developing countries a stronger voice (in favor of Russia and China) that better refelcts their seize?
Add economic heft to BRICS?
Whatever the motivation for increasing the number of members is, the question remains: will the United Nations Charter and liberal international order fall by the wayside in the process?
To use the words of António Guterres:
"In a fracturing world overwhelmed by crises, there is simply no alternative to cooperation.
We need to restore trust and reinvigorate multilateralism. The world has changed. Global governance must change with it."
At the G20 summit in India this year, the western G7 countries, that have now been overtaken by the BRICS countries in their economic power, will have to equip themselves to defend their social model and their liberal democracies.
The goal must be to work together to create more effective and equitable global governance structures - based on the values to which all states have committed themselves through the United Nations Charter.
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