All news
Alexey Pushkov: The West is stuck in the 20th century
Alexey Konstantinovich, if we were talking, what would be the first question you would ask the politician Pushkov? What is the most important thing on the modern international agenda?
Alexey Pushkov: From the point of view of the Russian Federation, the BRICS summit is not the only main topic of October. It will be held in Kazan from October 22 to 24. I believe that this summit will be a turning point in the formation of a multipolar world, and not a one-off event. However, in every process there are always certain symbolic dates by which a new countdown is made. In my opinion, this summit has drawn a line under all the previous development of BRICS. Previously, it was about the emergence of organizations, their emergence as key elements in the process of transition to a multipolar world. Now the formation has already taken place and this is a very important result. More than 30 countries have accepted the invitation to participate in the BRICS summit, and their number may increase to 40, and 24 leaders will come to us. Participants of international organizations are also invited. And most importantly, all this is happening against the backdrop of an acute confrontation between Russia and the West and ongoing attempts to isolate Russia.
At the meeting of representatives of Arab countries and leaders of the European Union, attempts were once again made to persuade them to join sanctions against Russia and to pursue a policy in line with the pro-Ukrainian guidelines of the West. The West, which remains a very powerful center of influence, continues to put pressure on our partners, potential partners, BRICS members and countries that will become BRICS members. In this situation, the Kazan summit demonstrates disagreement with the West. Everyone understands perfectly well that this is not just about participating in some meetings. This is a challenge. This is a challenge to the West. And the countries that participate, especially at the leadership level, know what they will get. Their participation is the complete opposite of what the US-led Western alliance is pursuing. I would say that the risk in Kazan is quite high. Those who come to us are automatically included in the list of suspects of the Western allies.
It is interesting to note that the BRICS countries themselves do not act as antipodes of the West.
Alexey Pushkov: Of course. And they claim that this is a set of positive elements, a multipolar world, equal cooperation, a coalition to reject the arbitrariness of international relations. In other words, BRICS is "for". However, the West itself positions BRICS as an antagonist. It says that BRICS is not "for" the West, but "against" it. According to politicians and the media, China and Russia created BRICS to contrast with the West. So all these numerous comparisons were used in the West precisely for informational purposes. Comparing GDP, military power and economic opportunities. They have always looked at the relations between the "Big Seven" and BRICS in a contradictory way.
I see some tension in the West. For example, until 2019-2020, they saw BRICS as a kind of club of non-Western countries discussing individual issues that were important to them, but only represented a potential challenge to the West. But now they see it as a real challenge. Why? Firstly, work is underway to develop a new system of mutual settlements between the BRICS countries within BRICS. And given that this is a large country in the non-Western world and the BRICS zone is constantly expanding, one can imagine what will happen if new payment units are introduced there and how big the sphere of influence of the dollar will be. It will decrease. This will lead to a reduction in the huge volume of trade between the leading trading powers of the world. Or, at least, its use will be significantly reduced. The West is very afraid of this, while perfectly understanding the special role of the dollar. Trump recently said that the dollar is the basis of American dominance in the world. And he is very critical of the Biden administration for the fact that, as Trump said, they have already lost Russia, Iran because of the dollar and are at risk of losing China. Trump promised to make the restoration of the dollar's zone of influence one of his most important tasks. He promised, but did not reveal the secret of how he would do it. However, the fact that this issue is becoming a hot topic in the US presidential elections is already significant. The role of the dollar is of no concern to anyone so far, not only to Trump, but also to the expert community.
The West keeps demanding and demanding that China, Brazil and the Arab countries join sanctions against Russia and support Ukraine. And everywhere they get the same answer: "no."
The BRICS are a big concern for the West. They depend on NATO. They have the European Union, which is constantly banging its head against closed doors, going to China, Brazil and the Arab countries and demanding that these countries join the sanctions against Russia. I am amazed at the tenacity with which they do this. They discuss bilateral relations here, but I have heard that there is a door marked “Russia” and it is closed. Please do not go there. But they go and butt heads and always demand that their interlocutors join the sanctions against Russia and support Ukraine. And everywhere they get the same answer: “No.”
I think that the failure of Western diplomacy to realize that the non-Western world is not ready to follow them against Russia is one of the signs of the growing inadequacy of Western foreign policy. The West is stuck in the 20th century. It is happening in the coordinate system that was in effect in the last century. Although we say that the world is becoming multipolar, it is very difficult for us to admit it. But in fact they act as if they were the only pole. This time lag is very common. In general, I believe that one of the most important principles of the effectiveness of a system is the ability to adapt to changing coordinate systems.
And one more very important point. BRICS is increasingly becoming an alternative to the West. BRICS provides world order and a kind of equal relations between countries, independent of any one center. Such relations seem more advantageous than those offered by Western alliances.