_{Contributors Joe Montero and Adam Carlton}

Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed he start of the BRICS summit leaders in Kazan, where he focused on the growing role and prospects of the economic group. He warned about the risks to the global economy from Western sanctions and policies unfavourable to most of the world.

_{Putin’s Full BRICS Speech In English}

_{Video from the Hindustan Times}

BRICS is an acronym that stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, the founding nations of this new cooperative framework for building an alternative to the United States dominated Bretton Woods system. It came into existence after World War Two and became a vehicle to secure United States dominance over the global economy and politics. Key institutions of this system are the International monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and SWIFT $US based international payments system.

_{Photo by Abe Fox: Establishment of the Bretton Woods system gave unfair advantage to the United States and western Europe}

The Bretton Woods system put most of the world to disadvantage and has proved to be a vehicle assisting economic control over nations and retarding the development of many of them in the quagmire of dependency, debt, and poverty. This has never sat well. With the relative decline of the west and rise of the east, the contradiction between a handful of dominant states and the world has become even less bearable.

_{BRICS with A Stronger Voice, Episode 1}

_{Video from CGTN}

Against this backdrop, BRICS membership expanded last year to include Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates, and became known as BRICS+. This year, the alliance will expand again by offering membership to some of the more than 40 Interested nations.

So, what is the attraction? The most important reason, as already mentioned, is that most nations are disadvantaged by the control over the global economy imposed by the United States and western Europe. Add to this the rapid spread of sanctions as a means of economic warfare to meet political ends. These are hangovers of a colonial past, existing today as forms of neocolonialism, where control by economic and diplomatic means is used as a substitute for direct rule. The problems caused by this have been made worse by the poor performance of the west and therefore the global economy, and imposition of the cost on poorer nations through an unequal financial system, political pressure, and economic warfare.

Secondly, BRICS already accounts for 36.7 percent of global GDP and surpasses the collective share of the United States, Germany, Britain, France Canada, and Japan, which make up the Group of 7 (G7) nations. They sit at just over 30 percent of global GDP. The expansion of BRICS will increase its share enormously. Top this with having the world’s best performing and fastest growing economies within its ranks. This is the future engine for the global economy and an attractive proposition for expanding trading opportunities.

A great deal is being said at this year’s summit and the creation of a new investment platform, to provide financial resources for countries in need, and enable them to avoid the harsh terms imposed by the IMF. The shift from using the $US as the medium of exchange for international trade between BRICS associated states, will remove a significant cost imposed on them.

The new Development Bank, currently headed for former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseau, exists as an alternative to the World Bank, and is designed to provide more favourable terms to access finance.

A proposed new system of grain exchange will contribute to guaranteeing food security and agriculture, especially for the poorest nations. Grains, vegetables, and oilseeds are currently under monopoly control and subject to excessive price volatility. This must end to guarantee food security. New exchange systems could follow to cover other vital needs like energy and the supply of raw materials. Agreements could be made to improve transport and communication infrastructure.

_{BRICS proposal for grain exchange will contribute to the food security of participating nations}

Means to best protect national economies from negative external interference, speculation, and attempts to cause artificial shortages are being discussed.

There is a political dimension. The world is becoming a more dangerous place, and the threat of war is on the rise. A declining capacity by the United States and major Western European nations to dominate economically and politically, means increasing reliance on economic and military warfare to maintain their dominance. A special invitation for Palestine as guest observer is an important symbolic gesture.

For most of the world, its interests lie in breaking free of the existing order, building cooperation between nations, and moving towards what has been termed a multipolar world. Such a world is one where there is no dominant power and international relations are based on equality, where the debt burden has been lifted and international investment and trade is carried out on a foundation of equality between nations. Only this can set the condition for a fair distribution of global wealth.

The BRICS summit underway in Russia, despite all the silence on it in western nations is immensely important, because it will be a major step in building the future global order and the fate of nations.

Reluctant to surrender past economic and political dominance, and the psychology of the supremacy of western civilisation, those at the top of the pile in western nations fear what is happening. They try to project this fear on their populations. They try to stop the rise of other nations, and increasingly resort to the threat of war to maintain their position.

But a world where cooperation is more important than might promises a better deal for most of those who live in the western nations as well. All will gain from a more successful and fairer global economic order which eases tension and the threat of war and provides more opportunities.

Given the scale of interest, the need to maintain internal consensus over progress, and avoid too strong a shock on the global economy, admittance into BRICS must be staggered. Russia has put forward a proposal to introduce a category of associate membership, which would provide many more enations with many of the benefits of BRICS, but without a direct vote at this stage.