BRICS 2024 Kazan Special Coverage
Simplicius | The BRICS 2024 summit kicked off as the big highlight of the week. There are an endless amount of things to be said from a variety of different analytical perspectives, but we’ll just mention a few of the salient points that stick out most for now. | Overall, the key takeaway from the BRICS summit can be the following. Look closely at some of the scenes presented: India and China after having just negotiated a settlement to their border conflict, Armenia and Azerbaijan hashing out their disputes, other “ostracized” members of the world community being greeted with open arms, no leering judgmental supremacism, condescending sermonizing and pompous pontificating like so often seen by the West at their global institutions, from the EU to the UN, etc. ■ The BRICS’ strongest achievement is sending a message of acceptance, compromise, openness, civility, and cooperation—the true definition of anti-illiberal qualities, the same the West so adamantly claims it champions. There was a kind of contagious energy that was palpable in the air: an alternate vision for a world led by sovereign grownups, not the small-minded, nervous little elitist compradors and pushy apparatchiks, the likes seen dotting the halls of the West’s equivalent institutions.
■ Les BRICS, ce nouveau Veau d'Or ? (Karine Bechet-Golovko)