By Niu Haibin
The acronym BRICS stands for the five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Due to their economic size, BRICS are gradually gaining greater influence on the international decision making process: BRICS members have intensified their commitment within the G 20, they have made valuable contributions to UN peacekeeping operations, and have established themselves as strong and active regional powers. The cooperation between BRICS countries is also deepening, resulting in some substantial institutional initiatives such as the creation of a New Development Bank.
Given their expanding economic size and increasingly active diplomacy, the BRICS countries are gradually gaining greater influence over the international decision-making process. Managing the influence of these emerging powers and reforming global institutions will become decisive issues for establishing an effective global governance system.
The slow pace of governance and quota reform at the IMF is a backward step. The US and Europe should truly raise emerging powers’ rights in return for an increase in financial contributions to the IMF. Both sides should treat the reform seriously.
The international community should encourage the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to offer emerging powers a non-permanent, but longer-term and more substantial standing on the Council. This would be a good way to preview the performance of emerging powers. Gradual changes to the Council may also be amenable and beneficial to established powers.
The deepening of cooperation between BRICS countries is resulting in some substantial institutional initiatives such as the creation of a New Development Bank. Such initiatives will open up to the developing world new resources, experiences, and an understanding of the priorities of emerging powers. The impact of such initiatives on existing international financial institutions is to be observed.
In general, an incremental and cooperative approach, guided by the mindset of cooperative stakeholders, might serve BRICS better in their efforts to transform the current world order peacefully and constructively.