The 15thth The BRICS summit kicked off in Johannesburg, South Africa, on August 22, and will be held the following year in Kazan, the capital of Russia’s Tatarstan region.
Currently, more than 40 countries are openly expressing their willingness to join the informal group, as the current host country of BRICS, South Africa, recently declared. In this regard, it is worth asking what BRICS are and what they are not.
BRICS, which started as a group of fast-growing economies, has not only stood the test of time, but also completely transformed its identity since the first summit in 2009. Remaining an informal and exclusive group, BRICS advance discussions on more than 30 distinct topics. including several not presented on the G20 agenda, namely regional security, tourism and culture. This does not make BRICS an alliance of any kind: they lack formality, including any form of sanction for non-compliance with decisions taken at annual summits.
BRICS is also not a baseless talking club, as most multilateral decisions are implemented very successfully, according to the results of a multi-year study conducted by a joint collective of Russian-Canadian think tanks, indicating average compliance exceeding 75 percent. .
It would also be a stretch to think about BRICS in general and BRICS-inspired multilateral institutions, such as the New Development Bank – the group has never claimed to replace any of the world organizations. The idea here is not to replace but to compensate for some of the most significant drawbacks of the international order.
BRICS cannot promote binding decisions, but it has great potential to formulate common ground in some areas of great importance. I suppose that BRICS could be an appropriate place to formulate new approaches to reforming the Internet governance system, since the debate on its key aspects (cybersecurity in particular) is stagnating.
The aforementioned study shows that since the introduction of the IT-related program in BRICS in 2015, the average compliance score has exceeded 90 percent, indicating the willingness of member states to cooperate. China and Russia are the main parties in this regard, contributing the most to shaping the agenda.
Given the growing interest of other countries around the world in BRICS, it is appropriate to discuss the creation of a new global partnership on Internet governance reform with some “BRICS characteristics”. BRICS could lend a helping hand to those who will inevitably become the emerging forces in Internet governance in the decades to come, thanks to continued economic transition and population growth – countries in Africa and elsewhere. ‘Latin America.
The newest partnership presents an interesting alternative to previously launched exclusive formats that mostly ignored the interests of the developing world. Southern voices would give recognition and support to BRICS multilateral initiatives, which could include reforming some of the key Internet governance institutions, including the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers and the Internet Society, making them more transparent and accountable. .
Furthermore, the information security agenda could flourish without direct interference from Western parties who intend to maintain their privileged bargaining position during negotiations on cybersecurity and cyberwarfare.
Any tangible outcome is achievable if only the discussed agenda becomes the main line of work within the broader BRICS agenda. The South African presidency this year and the next Russian presidency in 2024 will be an ideal time to start.
From our partner RIAC