BRICS; a response to unipolar order
By Jafar
Qannadbashi
Former Iranian diplomat
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is on a state visit to Russia to take part in the BRICS summit, marking one year since Iran’s official membership in the bloc, founded by emerging economies. Iran’s accession to BRICS and Pezeshkian’s attendance at the Kazan summit are significant in multiple ways. Iran has now a member of another major international organization in addition to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. BRICS is not solely a trade or security agreement; it’s a coalition of countries opposing US global dominance, representing a new world order in contrast to the current unipolar system. Just as the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) was a response to the bipolar world of the past century, BRICS is a reaction to today’s unipolar order.
Countries that didn’t want to be under the influence of the two traditional power blocs, the Soviet Union and the United States, came together in the NAM to protect themselves from the harm caused by the bipolar system. Now, countries critical of the unipolar order, particularly emerging economic powers, have joined forces under BRICS to shield themselves from the harm caused by the US-led unipolar system. As Pezeshkian said before departing for Russia, “The BRICS summit will strengthen our ties with member states and provide a way out of US unilateralism.”
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