Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Palestinian media: Israeli occupation forces storm the Old City in the center of Nablus, occupied West Bank
Local sources to Al Mayadeen: Sudanese army forces drones strike town of Kabkabiya, North Darfur.
Syrian Observatory: The plane is loaded with air defense systems and heavy weapons as part of US troop reinforcements to its bases in northeastern Syria
Syrian Observatory: US cargo plane lands with two military helicopters at Kharab al-Jir base in the countryside of Rmeilan, north of Hasakah
Miguel Díaz-Canel to Gustavo Petro: US seeks to reimpose the Monroe Doctrine in its relations with sovereign states in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Abu Ali Mustapha Brigades, the military wing of the PFLP, says they handed over the body of an Israeli captive to the Israeli occupation forces in implementation of the clauses of the ceasefire agreement.
Al Mayadeen correspondent: Israeli drones are flying over the presidential palace in Baabda, Mount Lebanon, and over the skies of the capital, Beirut, and its suburbs.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in South Lebanon: Israeli warplanes launch a series of raids on the al-Mahmoudiya and Jarmaq areas
Trump reiterates proposal for Russia and Ukraine to stop at current front line, negotiate later
Reuters: Trump says no discussion regarding Ukraine ceding Donbas to Russia

BRICS expansion will breed fear of losing hegemony for West: UnHerd

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: UnHerd
  • 25 Aug 2023 13:39
4 Min Read

The New Development Bank's announcement of adding 15 new members to its board proves an even bigger threat to the US and the West since lending would be in local currencies.

  • x
  • Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, China's President Xi Jinping, South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian FM Sergei Lavrov in Johannesburg, South Africa, Aug. 23, 2023. (AP)
    A photo showing Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, China's President Xi Jinping, South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Johannesburg, South Africa, on August 23, 2023. (AP)

The 2023 BRICS summit held in South Africa had a main and common focus: ending the dependence on the US dollar - in an effort to de-dollarize - which can be seen stemming after the US seized Russia’s currency reserves, leading other nations to realize that their own might be at a "geopolitical risk", Philip Pilkington argues in UnHerd.

Part of this move was an announcement this week by Dilma Rousseff, the head of the Shanghai-based BRICS bank, the New Development Bank, who said that it would be expanding lending to its members.

Unlike the IMF and the World Bank, however, lending in local currencies is a possibility, and the sort of conditionality that comes with loans from the IMF and the World Bank would not apply. Later on, Rousseff made a surprise announcement that the bank was considering adding 15 new members.

The NDB was not the only one with a similar surprise announcement. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, 22 countries have joined the queue in hopes of becoming a BRCIS member, but at the end of the summit, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the bloc is inviting six new members from January next year: Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and UAE. 

The scenario, according to UnHerd, is that if all the aforementioned nations join BRICS, the bloc will move from comprising 32% of global GDP to 45% in terms of purchasing power parity which is miles ahead of the G7, which makes up just over 30%. 

Read next: The BRICS, countering Western centuries-long hegemony

A losing game for the US

For Iran, its addition to the group means it can join 'the cool group', away from being isolated from the world economy, especially taking into consideration that it's the world's eighth largest oil producer and the third largest proven for oil reserves - proving significant for economic and geopolitical development.

The same applies to Saudi Arabia and the UAE since the US used to depend on the Gulf, namely Saudi Arabia, to exert pressure over oil prices, but if they join the bloc, the latter case seems like a lost game for the US.

UnHerd further suggested that the West can try to pull India out of BRICS and integrate it into the G7 (or the G8), especially since the US is its top trading partner, followed by two Brics members China and Russia. 

This report comes amid Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel expressing at the summit that the bloc's New Development Bank should serve as the alternative to modern financial institutions that aim "to obtain resources from the countries of the South." 

"The New Development Bank created by BRICS can and should become an alternative to modern financial institutions that have been using outdated recipes for about a century to obtain resources from the countries of the South," he said. 

BRICS is attracting countries that aim to steer away from a system controlled by the collective West and adopt a model of international relations based on mutual partnership, South Africa's minister of public works and infrastructure told Sputnik on Wednesday.

Read next: BRICS attracting nations aiming for a non-Western dominated system

"[The] majority of the countries in the world are yearning for a platform where they could cooperate at a mutual level without being dominated by the so-called superpowers. And that's why many people are eager to join BRICS," Minister Sihle Zikalala said.

  • Dilma Rousseff
  • BRICS
  • West
  • South Africa
  • US
  • NDB
  • Oil
  • de-dollarization

Most Read

Iran strikes secret Israeli-US bunker under Tel Aviv high-rise

Tel Aviv high-rise struck by Iran hid Site 81, secret US-Israeli base

  • Politics
  • 14 Oct 2025
Yemeni Armed Forces Chief of Staff Major General Mohammad Abd al-Karim al-Ghamari , during a ceremony in an undisclosed locations in Yemen, undate (Yemeni Military Media)

Yemeni Armed Forces mourn martyred Chief of Staff al-Ghamari

  • Politics
  • 16 Oct 2025
Israeli occupation violates Gaza ceasefire, killing seven Palestinians.

Israeli occupation violates Gaza ceasefire, kills seven Palestinians

  • Politics
  • 14 Oct 2025
Zionists Fundamentally Misread Iran Due To Their Own Echo Chambers

Zionists fundamentally misread Iran due to their own echo chambers

  • Analysis
  • 15 Oct 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
UK blocks release of documents on secretive Lammy-Sa’ar meeting.
Politics

UK blocks release of documents on secret Lammy-Sa’ar meeting

Colombia slams Trump’s drug accusation, defends sovereignty
Politics

Colombia slams Trump’s incendiary drug claims, defends sovereignty

The abuse was detailed in Giuffre's memoir "Nobody's Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice." (AP)
Politics

Epstein victim recounts choking, sexual assault by 'well-known PM'

The US Secret Service discovered a hunting stand near the airport President Donald Trump uses in Florida. (US Secret Service)
Politics

FBI probes hunting stand with sightline to Trump’s Air Force One exit

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS