venerdì 24 gennaio 2020

A possible essay plan on the BRICS

What is the role of the BRICS in international relations?
Introduction: Refer to a recent piece of news about the BRICS or their last summit meeting. Give a brief description of the BRICS group and why they are important. Explain the idea of complementarity rather than similarity. Current intra-BRIC cooperation. How are their economies performing at the moment.
Line of argument: This essay will argue that the BRICS are an important group at the economic level and their activity should be welcomed by the international community as a way to boost the world economy and should not be seen as a rival to the existing institutions of the liberal order but as a complement to them. At the political level it will be argued that the BRICS are not a coherent group and do not represent a threat to democratic values although the evolution of the situation will need to be monitored.
What are their declared shared aims (take these from summaries of previous summits)? How much have they achieved so far? How realistic are their other aims? At the economic level are they dominated by China? The New Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Are they a threat to developed Western economies and the post-War liberal order and its existing institutions (the World Bank, the International Fund and the Asian Development Bank) or should their expanding role in the global economy be welcomed? Italy and the BRICS:
Though they are all likely to play a greater political role in international relations as their economies grow, will they play that role together or separately or in alliance with other partners? What differences are there between them? Chinese-Indian border dispute / China is a one-party state, Russia an authoritarian state, India, Brazil and South Africa democracies (if rather dysfunctional). Are some of them too focused on domestic developments to want to play a major role in world affairs? Will other developing countries want to join their group or form alternative groupings.
Conclusion: I would argue that the growing role of the BRICS in the global economy should be encouraged and that as a political group they are likely to each act separately. Russia and China may cooperate on the UNSC in opposition to the US and its allies but that may provide a welcome level of restraint in international affairs. However, a joint operation involving all the BRICS in the style of NATO or a single, unified position on an international question like Syria or Venezuela (Russia for Maduro, Bolsonaro for Guaido) seems unlikely given their differences in terms of political ideology.

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