Fairer global governance at BRICS

Before he left for New Delhi to attend the BRICS Summit on Sept. 12-13, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. told the Filipino people why he was going and what were his expectations on this trip.

Since his attendance there is tied to his responsibilities as chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) this year, Marcos said he will share the lessons from Asean’s long-standing commitment to an open and inclusive dialogue while preserving the region’s strategic autonomy.

Most important is Bongbong’s assertion that “we will call for fairer global governance, stronger disaster preparedness, and the responsible use of new technologies, climate action, and the peaceful settlement of disputes under international law.”

Of these motherhood statements, I am most interested in “fairer global governance” since the other topics, such as peaceful settlement of disputes under international law, are subsumed by it.

By global governance we mean the dominant hegemony of the dominant global power in the world today, the United States, aid by the Western countries. They rule the world, so to speak, because of their tight grip on economic and financial power, the US dollar being the world’s reserve currency. They weaponize this advantage through military strength and financial sanctions over small and weak countries.

It does not need much analysis to realize that this is grossly unfair, and if PBBM is genuinely advocating for “fairer global governance,” he has my support. This is exactly the underlying objective of BRICS, why it was formed, why it persists in fighting the West and working for a fair share of world resources for the Global South.

At the summit, Marcos will have an opportunity to see and hear the other side in the ongoing tug-of-war between countries aligned with the United States such as ours, and those in the sphere of influence of China.

BRICS, an economic and security bloc originally composed of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, has grown to now include Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.

This intergovernmental organization of major emerging economies is designed to foster multilateral cooperation, reform global governance, and counterbalance Western-led economic institutions.

The group has “partner countries” that are allowed to engage in summit dialogues such as Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

Thus, in this year’s summit, Asean will be represented by the Philippines as chairman, and representatives from Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia.

As chair of BRICS this year, Indian Prime Minister Modi said, “Our goal will be to redefine BRICS as Building Resilience and Innovation for Cooperation and Sustainability.”

Modi promised that “just as we brought inclusivity to our G-20 presidency and placed the concerns of the Global South during our presidency of BRICS, we will advance this forum with a people-centric approach and the spirit of Humanity First.”

With China, Iran, and Russia in this group, it goes without saying that BRICS is unabashedly opposed to the current dominance of the United States and its wobbly currency, the US dollar, in world affairs.