Malaysia’s BRICS move an inevitable sign of global multipolarity

 

From Julia Roknifard

The announcement by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim that Malaysia will finally make a formal move to seek membership in the largest and most influential geopolitical grouping known as the BRICS may have come as a surprise to some, but for the majority, indeed the global majority, such a move is all but inevitable.

Founded in 2009, BRICS – an acronym for its core members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – has since welcomed a whole host of other nations, including the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Iran. A wide range of countries from Saudi Arabia to Kazakhstan and Bangladesh are applying for entry into the grouping.

Membership into BRICS offers something beyond the usual trade ties and market access for Malaysia, though considering the country’s position as a trading nation these are no doubt powerful considerations. This is really about options and choices.

As some have observed, the days of the US-led Western hegemony are coming to an end. The end of the Cold War era has morphed from one of hope and a new global configuration into a neo-imperialist agenda. Over the past 30 years, these Western nations, claiming a high moral ground, have engaged themselves unchecked in endless wars, sanctions and regime change operations.

As a result, the global majority – not an empty term as China and India alone account for a third of the global population – has reacted by seeking to secure themselves against Western pressure.

Combined with Russia which, despite severe sanctions, has seen its economy reclassified by the World Bank as the fourth biggest (overtaking Japan), BRICS is emerging as a dominant global force against previously powerful Western-centric groupings such as the Group of Seven (G7), whose populations and share of the global economy are rapidly shrinking.

Malaysia is keenly aware of these developments and has long since established strong and diversified trade links with countries outside the West. But why join BRICS now? There are several possible reasons that we could deduce from recent events.

The fact that Anwar has been personally vocal on the plight of the Palestinians has invited threats of sanctions with certain Western officials and their representatives in Malaysia threatening sanctions over the alleged trafficking of Iranian and Russian oil and gas products (part of which is ironically bound for Western markets).

There are also claims that Malaysia is being used to “launder” China-manufactured products.

For its part, Malaysia has refused to recognise any unilaterally imposed sanctions, deferring to the United Nations as the only legitimate body which holds the power to impose sanctions.

In a world without a grouping representative of the Global South like BRICS, Malaysia would have found itself isolated, sanctioned and destabilised, as has happened to a great many other countries which chose to defy the West. But in our present reality which includes BRICS, the threat of sanctions grows more empty day by day.

Sanctions which were once the greatest weapon of the West no longer have the bite they used to as alternatives are rapidly being developed to the once touted Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, or SWIFT, a messaging network through which international payments are initiated. Meanwhile, de-dollarisation is being pursued as countries no-longer place the same trust in the dollar, seeing how it is being wielded as a weapon.

What BRICS means for countries like Malaysia, which seek to forge their own path in geopolitics and international diplomacy, is a guarantee that even if they were cut off from the entire Western financial system, their market access to the country with the largest manufacturing base in the world (China), potentially the largest consumer base in the world (India), and the biggest supplier of commodities and energy (Russia), will remain unhindered.

The geopolitical impact of the BRICS cannot be understated. Even Palestine, which has been denied statehood by a whole host of Western-dominated organisations, has applied for BRICS membership, bringing the issue of Palestinian statehood to the centre of international attention. The Palestinian leadership has even expressed support for the BRICS’s call to start direct negotiations with Israel without the US involvement.

Joining BRICS is no more a political statement than Malaysia’s participation in the China-led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) or even the US-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF).

Malaysia has always and is likely to always maintain its course on the middle ground of international politics, taking advantage of new trends and developments while looking out for its interests.

BRICS will be yet another feather in Malaysia’s cap and signal to its partners that it will do business with all nations and seeks to be an enemy of none. - FMT

Dr. Julia Roknifard is Assistant Professor School of Politics, History and International Relations (PHIR) University of Nottingham Malaysia. She is an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.