Winston Mok

The View | Brics’ path to a fairer global system starts at home

For Brics nations to secure global reforms, they must build effective institutions, protect property rights and strengthen the rule of law

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The full moon rises over the Kazan Kremlin in between the Qol Sharif mosque (left) and the Cathedral of the Transfiguration (right) in Kazan, Russia. The city, about 700 km east of Moscow, is hosting this year’s Brics summit, the first with an expanded membership. Photo: AP

Winston Mok

Published: 4:30pm, 22 Oct 2024Updated: 5:47pm, 22 Oct 2024

The annual Brics summit is taking place in the Russian city of Kazan this week. The grouping of emerging nations has shown its resilience and emerged as an influential global presence over the past 15 years despite meeting with initial scepticism upon its founding.

The Brics membership has expanded beyond Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with more members potentially on the way.

Together, these nations represent more than 45 per cent of the world’s population and more than 30 per cent of global gross domestic product. However, the real significance of Brics lies in the grouping’s potential to reshape global governance, trade and finance.

While the Brics nations advocate more inclusive global institutions, their true economic competitiveness is predicated on effective domestic institutions. Research by Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson – this year’s Nobel laureates in economics – emphasises that inclusive institutions and strong rule of law are fundamental to sustained growth.

For the Brics nations to make good on their hopes of reforming global systems, they must build effective institutions, protect property rights and strengthen the rule of law. Ultimately, the path to a fairer global order begins at home.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia’s leaders implemented a rapid “shock therapy” approach to enacting neoliberal market reforms that ultimately backfired. This abrupt shift created a power vacuum exploited by well-connected insiders. The result was a system of crony capitalism dominated by oligarchs who leveraged their political ties to amass vast wealth and control key industries.