BRICS has no plans to become the new hegemon
The BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) does not set itself the task of becoming a new collective world hegemon.
The association seeks to exclude the logic of the Cold War era from international relations, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in his article for the South African edition of Ubuntu, published on the eve of the summit of the organization.
“We do not have a goal to replace the existing multilateral mechanisms, much less to become a new “collective hegemon”. On the contrary, the members of the “five” consistently advocate the creation of conditions for the development of all states, which rules out the bloc logic of the “cold war” and “zero-sum” geopolitical games. BRICS strives to offer inclusive solutions based on a collective approach.
According to the Russian minister, the group seeks to develop cooperation with the countries of the “world majority”, in particular, with African states. Lavrov expressed the opinion that the association has many supporters around the world, especially among the countries of the South and East.
In early August, South African Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Naledi Pandor announced that 23 states had applied to join the BRICS. This list, according to him, includes: Algeria, Argentina, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Belarus, Bolivia, Venezuela, Vietnam, Cuba, Honduras, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Morocco, Nigeria, the State of Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia.
On August 22-24, the BRICS summit will be held under the chairmanship of South Africa in Johannesburg.
