BRICS: The new world order?

I know most of the political and economic pundits know about the BRICS nations, but i dont know if the general audience here at TS are aware of them.

Essentially they are made up of growing economies and BRICS stands for Brazil Russia India China and South Africa added in 2010.

BRICS more info

As of 2013, the five BRICS countries represent almost 3 billion people with a combined nominal GDP of US$16.039 trillion and an estimated US$4 trillion in combined foreign reserves.[1][4] Presently, South Africa holds the chair of the BRICS group, having hosted the group's fifth summit in 2013. The BRICS have received both praise and criticism from numerous quarters.[5][6][7] Argentina will participate in the Fortaleza Summit to be held in July 2014 in response to an invitation by Russia.[8] In that meeting, the BRICS countries will discuss the possible admission of Argentina as the sixth member country.[

There is one thing for sure, these nations are forging an alliance that is threatening the old hegemony of imperialism and by extension the western power structure.

You wont be surprised then to know that most western media will not advertise the fact that change is in the air and maybe the wind is blowing south and east.

I came across this immaculate example of journalism in the form of a 47 minute documentary done by Al Jazeeran tv station Empire.

The questions were hard hitting and the answers were in plain English. There was a bit of political bullet dodging but compare this with a US, British or even Australian political interview on normal tv it was like a breath of fresh air.

I cannot impress on the reader how good this video was so I suggest if you have some time to kill and have a thirst for knowledge even in the form of political and economic spectrum you check this out. It was done in 2010 so a lot has happened since and I aim to update the thread with what I find and urge you to do the same.

Now I must warn most Americans and I know this site is mostly North American that you wont like the slant of this video. The reporter clearly has a dislike for how America conducts its business but to be 100% impartial is unlikely for a human so take it with a pinch of salt as they say. Whats important is the meat of the video and the information it contains. of special note is the interview with the Brazilian minister for foreign affairs.

With an opening like:

"Today the reigns of geo political power are shifting towards countries that were once beggers at Americas gate."

I knew this was going to be raw.

His interview with the Brazilian foreign minister is reminiscent of the first time I saw Jurassic Park, I could not believe what I was seeing. Reporters asking politicians intelligent questions and getting intelligent answers. It was like Bizzaro world where things were opposite to the reality I was familiar.

A little about the foreign minister 'Celso Amorim' to get you acquainted.

Celso Luiz Nunes Amorim (born 3 June 1942) is a Brazilian diplomat who has been Minister of Defence since August 2011. Amorim was the Minister of Foreign Relations from 1993 to 1995 under President Itamar Franco and again from 2003 to 2011 under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

He graduated from the Rio Branco Institute, an undergraduate school of international relations run by the Ministry of External Relations, in 1965, and obtained his post-graduate degree in International Relations from the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna in 1967.

Amorim was a Portuguese language professor at the Rio Branco Institute, as well as political science and international relations professor at the University of Brasília. He is a permanent member of the Foreign Affairs Department of the University of São Paulo Institute of Advanced Studies.

I did find this funny and interesting

On 19 July 2008, Amorim stirred up controversy by comparing the descriptions used by wealthier countries to characterize the agricultural concessions they were offering during the Doha Round of WTO talks to the work of Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels. This brought a swift condemnation from the U.S. State Department.[6]

A very articulate and engaging interview indeed too much to go into detail and I wouldn't be doing is justice suffice to say things dont look good for the power hungry players of the west. There is a tangible power shift, it is moving under our feet right now.

Our world will not end in a bang but with a whimper. It has already begun.

watch the video and any further info will be greatly appreciated.

here is the video.

I do believe that the new emerging markets will eventually be a player in the global market...

However I was an early investor in BRIC and suffered quite a loss. I might try it again when BRIC and MINT stabilize; It looks like that day is rapidly approaching.

www.forbes.com...

originally posted by: olaru12
I do believe that the new emerging markets will eventually be a player in the global market...

However I was an early investor in BRIC and suffered quite a loss. I might try it again when BRIC and MINT stabilize; It looks like that day is rapidly approaching.

www.forbes.com...

I think the trick to making money from this information is to find out who the political players are and which companies they are investing in. Not just blanket economies. I cant see them being the saviors of the world jut different actors playing the same parts. Its just a shift of power not a change in the polarity of power.

Here is my philosophy I will bet on the team I want to win the least because its a win win situation.

If the team I want to win, wins then I win. If the team I want to win loses i still win the bet so I might not be happy the team I wanted didnt win but the money will keep me comfy longer than not having bet on them.

a reply to: TiM3LoRd

If the BRIC nations were so good an powerful they would of solved all the worlds problems already. Right?

Well they haven't. And I won't hold my breath that they will.

All those nations are full of rampant corruption. Human rights problems and so on and so forth.

originally posted by: grey580
a reply to: TiM3LoRd

If the BRIC nations were so good an powerful they would of solved all the worlds problems already. Right?

No im pretty sure I didnt say that.

I did however say there is a shift in power going on.

Let me be clear in saying I dont think they will be our savior. They will grab as much money and power as they can and as always the rich will get richer and the poor will get screwed.

The BRICS are just the larger emerging economies with regional influence, yet their economies in totality are dwarfed by the G7 crowd of developed nations. If you add in all the developed nations of the EU, the Far East, Australia and North America, the BRICS seem rather small.

The developed nations are all liberal and free democracies, the BRICS are not. In fact, one of the BRICS is a totalitarian regime (China) with terrible human rights, closely followed by Russia which is increasingly authoritarian. On the other hand India is the largest democracy. This gathering of mismatched societies is the Achilles heel of the BRICS and will prevent any really cohesive and lasting interaction of the level that goes on in the G7, although it is good to talk.

On the OP note regarding political interviews. Well, I see some very tough political interviews in the UK and see politicians being brought to account regularly. You don’t see this in the “R” and the “C” of the BRICS.

As an end note before we all go off thinking the BRICS are a knight in shining armour sent to save us rich Westerners from ourselves (and I guess that’s most people on ATS), just consider the below. We all rant and rave about where we live but the BRICS are hardly the Sunlit Uplands.

Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index 2013 TI Corruption index and covering things like bribery, nepotism

Brazil = 72nd
Russia = 127th
India = 94th
China = 80th
South Africa = 72nd
Argentina = 106th
Comparator – USA = 19th; Sudan 174th

Human Development Index Human Development Index and covering education, life expectancy etc
Brazil = 85th
Russia = 55th
India = 136th
China = 101st
South Africa = 121st
Argentina = 45th
Comparator – Democratic Republic of the Congo 156th; USA 1st.

Gini coefficient Inequality of income and measuring income inequality

Brazil = 55%
Russia = 40%
India = 33%
China = 47%
South Africa = 63%
Argentina = 45%
Comparator – Denmark 24%; UK 34%; USA 45%

Regards

BRICS has been a big failure and not managed to agree on a single policy in its 5 years. The idea was they put aside the fact they have so many disagreements in foriegn affairs and such and just focus on trade and economics. This of course has not worked out. And the since its creation when all were booming economies things have gotten much worse. In particular for Brazil, South Africa and India. The problem is these countries just have to many problems with each other and no trust in each other so what we see is 5 summits of lots of grand ideas that then lead to nothing but infighting between the BRICS members. BRICS will always be that group with lots of potential that just can not get along long enough to do anything.

I agree with the sentiment here: BRICS has potential but it will never do anything