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https://theconversation.com/russias-brics-summit-shows-determination-for-a-new-world-order-but-internal-rifts-will-buy-the-west-some-time-241610>
"The recent Brics summit in the Russian city of Kazan was less notable for what
happened at the meeting than for what happened before, on the margins, or not
at all. Among the notable things that did not happen was another expansion of
the organisation.
Since the addition of Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)
at the 2023 Brics summit in Johannesburg, which almost doubled the number of
member countries from the original five (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South
Africa), further enlargement has stalled.
Argentina, which was also invited in 2023, declined to join. Saudi Arabia,
another 2023 invitee, has not acted on the offer to become a member either. Its
de-facto ruler, crown prince Mohammad bin Salman, was among the notable
absentees in Kazan.
And Kazakhstan, Russia’s largest neighbour in Central Asia, decided not to join
shortly before the summit. This drew Russia’s ire, resulting in a prompt ban on
imports of a range of agricultural products from Kazakhstan in retaliation.
While invitees have declined the opportunity to join Brics, a long list of
applicants have not been offered membership. According to a statement by
Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, at a meeting of senior Brics security
officials in September, 34 countries have expressed an interest in closer
relations with Brics in some form.
This appears to be a substantial increase in interest in Brics membership
compared to a year ago, when South Africa’s foreign minister, Naledi Pandor,
listed 23 applicants ahead of the 2023 summit.
But the fact that, since then, only six invitations have been extended – and
four accepted – indicates that formal enlargement of the organisation, at least
for now, has been stymied by the inability of current members to forge
consensus over the next round of expansion and the reluctance on the part of
some invitees to be associated with the organisation."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
