From Goa to Xiamen. On some aspects of political cooperation within BRICS

Abstract

International relations system in contemporary conditions does not presuppose the existence of a universal, generally accepted world order model. Concepts of the modern global order can stand in marked contrast to each other: the idea of a unipolar world led by the United States and the North Atlantic community is opposed to the notion of a multipolar world with several equitable force poles. One of the phenomena illustrating the polycentric world narrative is the emergence of BRICS group of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa in the 2008. This article considers major tracks of political cooperation within BRICS. The author analyses final documents issued at the BRICS summits in Fortaleza in 2014, Ufa in 2015 and Goa in 2016 to assess the extension of the political agenda and define its reasons. The analysis includes the views of leading Russian and foreign experts, civic leaders and policymakers. It touches upon the issue of potential enlargement of BRICS, the group's functioning in the outreach format, as well as possibilities for institutionalization. It also considers BRICS members' approaches toward including political issues on their agenda. The author uses a holistic approach. Various fields of BRICS activities are scrutinized for inextricable connections, as they determine one another. The results of the content analysis identified the correlation between the attitude of the summit host to political cooperation and the reflection of the political agenda in the final summit declaration. The author concludes that common ideologies and principles define BRICS performance (such as supremacy of international law, pursuance of multipolar world, adherence to equal and mutually beneficial cooperation) and serve as a prerequisite for the group's work: creating financial institutions, holding multiple meetings at different levels, and expanding bilateral and multilateral exchanges. Not only is the economic vector compatible with the political track, but it also catalyzes the expansion of the agenda. This conclusion is confirmed by the consistent increase in the number of political aspects of interaction among the BRICS countries in recent years.