BRICS is not challenging the existing world order. It is seeking a place in the sun for developing countries. It is looking at alternative approaches but there is no desire to seek confrontation with the West.
Chavez’s significance lies in his attempts to liberalise the international monetary system with regard to credit support for poverty alleviation schemes in Latin America outside the ambit of the IMF by setting up the Caracas-based “Bank of the South”, which was lauded by eminent economists like Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz.
Though its goal of securing a permanent seat in the Council during the 2011-12 term was ambitious, the efforts that it put in over the last two years were steered in that direction and have yielded favourable results.
The recent French intervention in Mali comes almost after a year of turmoil in the country. Mali needs to achieve an internal political process which will strengthen the government’s mandate and provide economic security and sustainable development to the country.
The events of the last ten days have once again focussed international attention on the DRC and lent support to voices clamouring for a review of the existing mandate of MONUSCO and the larger process by which these mandates are concretized.
The UNASUR is a regional organisation formed by 12 South American states that are united by shared history, religion, common culture and language. This Backgrounder details the various security challenges faced by South America and UNASUR’s role in addressing them.
The shortcomings of the UN Register of Conventional Arms have led to the failure of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). For the Treaty to be robust and meaningful, the weapon systems which will matter in the future must be reflected in the very design of the instrument. Moreover, the Treaty should remain free from biases and prejudices of the past.
The imbroglio over who should be chairperson of the African Union Commission has exposed deep divisions among African states, which will undermine the effective functioning of the commission itself.
Despite a humungous infusion of military-logistical support, MONUSCO has achieved little in terms of fulfilling its primary mandate of protecting civilians in the DRC.
BRICS and Stepping Stones: A New Global Pattern
A global vision based on sustainable resource use for global prosperity can also overcome trust deficit within the BRICS grouping.