Why BRICS Serves As a Red Flag For Trump

At the 14th edition of the World Social Forum held in Tunisia in 2015, social activists from the Global South discussed a variety of issues in the events held during the forum. The caucuses always excluded members of the Global West much to their annoyance and antipathy.

At certain junctures, the Global South encouraged time-bound dialogues with the Western counterparts. These invariably ended in aggressive divergence of views. The West simply could not endure the assertive leadership of voices of the Global South, and their insistence of their ideological preferences. Colonial attitudes still remain in their minds.

BRICS was then still an unsullied entity, but quickly emerged into a philosophical challenger and contender for political space and contention in the global political arena.

The Global West cynically declared BRICS as a wasteful improbability. Solely racist opinions disallowed them from recognizing BRICS as a new dynamic in the global political reality. This denial based on neo-colonialist ideas will sooner, than later, spell their own colonial demise.

Deep inside, there was and is fear that when BRICS emerges, Europe as a secondary power to the USA would be neutralized and relegated to a power from history. BRICS is is a rallying point of emerging economies.

As of March 2025, the BRICS group comprises nine countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Counting their combined economic and demographic statistics, BRICS+ countries collectively account for approximately 37% of the global GDP. In population terms they count for close-to half of the world's population.

Trump’s administration, which is focused on an "America First" agenda, will push for and reinforce American economic dominance. He views the BRICS nations, notably China, as an economic competitor that could dent U.S. interests in global trade.

In his first term as President, he picked on Russia and China around questions of trade practices, military expansion, and geopolitical influence, thus contributing to an overall negative perception of the BRICS coalition. His scrutiny of BRICS shows it as an obstacle to the U.S.’s negotiating power and unilateralism. Trump sees BRICS represents a multilateral approach, which he will not countenance.

The rise of BRICS as an economic bloc is seen as a shift in the global power balance. It is a dominant challenge to the U.S. leadership in international affairs which Trump and his advisors will view as a challenge. It is clear that Trump’s resentment towards BRICS stems the changing dynamics of global power.

BRICS will certainly foster economic ties and promote mutual development with member countries foisting a collective voice in global governance systems, aiming to ensure that emerging economies are adequately represented in institutions like the UN, the World Bank, and the IMF. Affirming the idea of a multipolar world order, BRICS also stands out as a counterbalance to Western dominance – USA and Europe.

In the context of current global dynamics, BRICS is evolving in three specific areas:

One, by enhancing trade in local currencies and reducing dependency on the US dollar, it opens avenues to create a new architecture of global trade patterns.

Two, the combined political influence of its members gives BRICS a stage to advocate for policy changes in international institutions.

Three, initiatives like the New Development Bank (NDB) would mean BRICS creating a model to fund infrastructure projects and support economic growth in member countries.

India exercises caution recognizing, in BRICS, the impact that China holds in the grouping. India’s support for the recently added members to the BRICS forum is based on its own criteria of backing members that could add economic vigor to the grouping such as the UAE, its own strategic partnerships with the newly added countries, and a desire to see greater global representation.

India would rather enlist States in Southeast Asia, with similar interest-based criteria and will unhesitatingly seek to exclude countries with a patent “anti-India” agenda. (Read, Pakistan). Moreover, India could well soon be the fourth largest economy in the world by 2026, even surpassing Japan. This incentivizes India’s ambition to be a heavy weight in BRICS.

But despite sturdy macroeconomic fundamentals and a resilient economy, India still has a heavy load of homework before it can even remotely become a just and distributive economy. Credibility for a leadership role will not land on her lap until India proves its economy is more versatile than it is now with colossal patches of inequality.

Focal Points of BRICS will include Economic Development and Cooperation, Political Coordination on Global Issues, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Cultural Exchange and People-to-People Contacts. This imminent recalibration of the world order, including the threat to the US dollar primacy, has led Trump to threaten BRICS member countries with big-ticket tariffs. Trump’s tariffs are already hitting a stone wall.

The BRICS group has recently expanded to include countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) seeking to create a new multipolar world order. BRICS comprises a group of giant non-Western economies and other rapidly growing emerging economies. In an expansionist move into the Arab world, Egypt, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates joined BRICS in 2023, while Saudi Arabia is actively involved in the bloc as an invited member. Egypt, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) joined the bloc in 2023, while Saudi Arabia has maintained an active role as an invited nation.

BRICS invited the State of Palestine to apply for membership, an atypical move, given that Palestine is not an emerging economy. The political stratagem of adding Palestine's accession to BRICS would open new horizons for the debate on Palestinian sovereignty beyond the US bias toward Israel.

Philippe Amarante, Head of Middle East at Henley & Partners observes that “The expansion in 2024 to include five Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries has added economic heft to BRICS and offers the opportunity for important investment and investment migration possibilities in the Middle East and beyond... the extended BRICS will enhance opportunities in the investment migration sector from a capital and talent attraction perspective…”.

BRICS membership could significantly benefit the Palestinian economy by enhancing cooperation that drives economic development, including energy, logistics, and enlarge horizons for the debate on Palestinian sovereignty beyond the US bias toward Israel. It also demonstrates how BRICS membership could significantly benefit the Palestinian economy by enhancing cooperation in sectors such as energy, logistics, and artificial intelligence.

MENA countries and BRICS argue that BRICS membership can reconfigure the discussion around Palestinian sovereignty beyond the bounds of US alignment with Israeli policies. BRICS’s interest in the State of Palestine’s membership also reflects broader geopolitical shifts and a growing disillusionment with US mediation.

Economic strains in MENA countries, such as Egypt and Tunisia, highlighted by dollar shortages make collaboration with BRICS members politically smart—if not essential. Bilateral agreements in local currencies reduce dependence on Western financial institutions, which benefits struggling emerging economies of the MENA region.

Meanwhile, the strategic geographic location of MENA states offers immense value for the BRICS countries’ economic security and trade networks. Despite internal divisions, BRICS has achieved significant geopolitical gains by expanding into the MENA region and securing access to critical global shipping routes, including the Suez Canal and the Red Sea. This expansion has enhanced trade resilience, reduced geopolitical shock risks, and strengthened economic stability.

Moreover, BRICS members gained access to networks such as the Greater Arab Free Trade Area and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, reducing US leverage over their supply lines. BRICS leaders, especially China and Russia, have also increased their sway in the region to secure energy supplies and foster cooperation in this sector.

Energy cooperation between BRICS and MENA countries has intensified, particularly following Western sanctions on Russia in the context of the Ukraine war. The UAE significantly increased its Russian crude oil import flow, while Tehran and Moscow established a gas hub to diversify energy sources. Saudi Arabia doubled its imports of Russian fuel oil for its power stations while saving its crude reserves for exports. It did so in its status as an invited nation.

MENA countries are considering partnering with BRICS countries to develop civilian nuclear power projects. The bloc’s increased use of non-dollar currencies benefits the region’s energy trade by offering flexible pricing mechanisms and breaking the Western monopoly of the world monetary system.

Chief among BRICS’s plans to strengthen cooperation between its members is a system for exchanging commodities that reduces emerging markets’ dependence on the dollar and promotes the use of local currencies. Under Russia’s 2024 BRICS presidency, the bloc has prioritized de-dollarization—the process of reducing reliance on the US dollar in global trade and finance.

Initiatives like the BRICS Pay system challenge the dominant US dollar-based bank transfer network, SWIFT. This initiative, part of a broader effort to mitigate dependency on the Western-dominated financial system, opens new economic opportunities and pathways to Global South communities, including Palestinians, to break their dependency on the West, especially the US.

Trump has threatened to retaliate with stiff tariffs. For now, Trump’s cacophony may boomerang in the USA. His calculations lack sound economic essentials.

BRICS’s interest in the State of Palestine’s membership reflects broader geopolitical shifts and a growing disillusionment with US mediation. In June 2023, the Palestinian Authority (PA) signed a strategic partnership with China, in which the latter reaffirmed its support for a two-state solution.

China has advocated for full UN membership for the State of Palestine and recognition of East Jerusalem as its capital. By contrast, Trump’s designs for a peace in Palestine lack depth and even the most remote understanding of the culture in the region.

Palestinian membership in BRICS could also legitimize Hamas’s involvement in a national unity government, an outcome vehemently opposed by both the US and the Israeli regime. BRICS membership will pave the way for Palestinians new economic and diplomatic pathways, opening up possibilities that diminish dependency on Western-led systems.

Russia has bolstered robust support for Palestine. South Africa has solidified its position by pursuing legal actions against the Israeli regime, including charging it with genocide at the International Court of Justice. Following its diplomatic success in brokering a normalization of ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran, Beijing aims to extend its mediation efforts to Palestine.

BRICS could thus push the USA and EU into non-factors in global peace making unlike before. Brazil’s support for Palestine with a strong comeback of Lula’s global activism will override his predecessor’s right-wing policies. India subscribes to what analysts call the post-Cold War “new nonalignment,” a strategy that seeks to position major Global South countries as leaders in shaping the global agenda and exploring alternative paths for peace.

BRICS’s Special Economic Zones offer opportunities for economic recovery and growth in Gaza and the West Bank, countering Israeli-imposed isolation measures. The bloc’s focus on inclusive use of AI provides Palestinians with opportunities to counter the Israeli regime’s technological domination and stranglehold on Palestine’s digital scape.

Recognizing the need for collective Global South action to tackle macroeconomic and currency challenges following the 2007–2008 global financial crisis, the group’s key achievement was establishing alternative non-Western financial institutions, namely the Contingent Reserve Arrangement and the New Development Bank (NDB). Over time, BRICS has widened its agenda to address pressing political issues, including climate change, anti-terrorism, and cyber security.

Crucially, BRICS will eye a defining role in Gaza’s reconstruction. Redeveloping the Gaza port, a long-disrupted project, aligns with BRICS’s interests especially because it would enhance Palestinian economic viability.

A reconstructed port in Gaza would also strengthen BRICS’s supply chain security and establish Palestine as a Mediterranean trade hub. This is a win-win situation for BRICS. BRICS’s involvement in Gaza’s reconstruction may face US and Israeli opposition, but the bloc has the leverage.

In essence, BRICS seeks to reshape the global order, fostering greater economic cooperation and political influence for emerging economies. BRICS is already a counterweight to Western influence in global institutions.