- The Guardian
- Issue #2154
Vietnam is joining BRICS as a partner country. Some questions you may have include:
• joining what?
• which means what exactly?
• why should I care?
To deal with the last question first, you should care because this is both a good sign for the prospect of a world bowing to the USA, as well as a good model for Australia to follow. More on this later.
What are they joining? BRICS stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. It’s an intergovernmental organisation that has regular summits. It’s more accurately known as BRICS+ because other countries like Indonesia have signed up (see “BRICS: Multipolar reality” for more).
BRICS+ has started initiatives such as the New Development Bank, an alternative to the International Monetary Fund and World Bank duopoly on development finance. It has also looked at starting an alternative reserve currency – an alternative to the US dollar. So far the group has encouraged more trade in other currencies.
The US dollar’s status as the global reserve currency gives that country a lot of power. That monopoly gives the US a lot of clout when it comes to trade and to those sanctions it loves slapping on nations that don’t do as they’re told.
Joining as a partner country means that Vietnam takes part in BRICS+ summits and has its views heard, without voting as a full member. It means, according to BRICS+, that Vietnam shares “a commitment to a more inclusive and representative international order” with nine other partner countries and the BRICS+ nations.
So why is this a good thing? Two reasons. Firstly, it makes BRICS+ that much stronger. Vietnam has a population of almost 100 million, and it’s really important in global supply chains. BRICS now covers 56% of the world’s population. So Vietnam joining is good for BRICS. It’s also good for Vietnam, which has solid reasons for wanting to be in a forum with more than half the world’s population. Like most nations, Vietnam has reasons for not wanting to keep all its’ eggs in one basket with the United States – a country which has always bullied other countries and is bullying more brazenly under Trump.
Vietnam joining is particularly good because the US has been trying to drive a wedge between Vietnam and China for some time. Recently it looks like they’ve failed. The Socialist Republic and the People’s Republic have had friendly political and economic relations for a while now. There is respect for a fellow socialist country. It’s also likely that Vietnam looked at the map and noticed that China is next door. It’s very possible they looked at the future, which China is a big part of.
Certainly, US President Donald Trump thinks BRICS is important. He’s been blowing hard about slapping tariffs on nations that support what he calls “the Anti-American policies of BRICS.”
So what does that have to do with Australia? BRICS+ is an example of ‘multipolarity,’ other nations doing their own thing and exercising some of that freedom that the USA loves to talk about and hates to respect in practice.
Australia could join BRICS+ too, but it would require a massive change in mindset, for this country to be an independent nation that acts in its peoples’ interest. It would need Australia to have the independence that the Communist Party of Australia is working towards.
