An illustration shows (from left) Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Chinese President Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as they pose for a group photo at the BRICS summit in Johannesburg on Aug. 23, 2023. Foreign Policy illustration/Getty Images |
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Vladimir Putin has been looking forward to this week. On Tuesday, the Russian president will welcome leaders from the BRICS bloc of emerging market economies in a show of defiance to U.S. and European attempts to make him a global pariah. BRICS was once a group of just five countries—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—that has expanded to officially include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates. Moscow says 32 countries will participate in this year’s summit in Kazan, Russia.
As FP’s Keith Johnson writes, though Western capitals dismiss the group as a grab bag of countries, “it is hard to appreciate just how much resentment there is of Western hypocrisy and hegemony, all mortar helping to bond the loose membership of BRICS.” The BRICS countries can be said to represent a desire for an alternate global order. It is probably not a coincidence that the summit is not only being held in Russia but is also taking place as two Bretton Woods institutions—the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank—hold their fall meetings in Washington.
“In recent years … the IMF has diverged from its obligation to support countries in need,” write Andrés Arauz and Ivana Vasic-Lalovic of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. In their Argument “The IMF Has Lost Its Way,” the economists offer what they call “five quick fixes” to move the IMF out of its old ways—austerity and conditionality—and into sync with a changed world confronting a climate emergency.
Meanwhile, the World Bank has lulled itself into a complacent belief that what it was doing was working, Oxford University’s Paul Collier writes in “The World Bank Is Failing And Needs a Restart.” If current trends continue, “the global poverty count will soon revert to its grim pre-1990 upward March,” he argues, adding that the prospect of rising poverty “should be galvanizing the bank into action.”—The Editors
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Stay Ahead of the Polls: The results of the upcoming U.S. presidential election will have far-reaching geopolitical ramifications, and FP’s staff writers and contributors are analyzing the ins and outs of the race from a global point of view. Ensure you don’t miss any expert insights with FP’s Election 2024 page. Subscribers also have access to the Fall 2024 issue exploring how the next president should unite a polarized electorate and what issues he or she should prioritize.
- U.S.-China Battery Race: “The United States is squandering its best opportunity to compete in the global battery race,” Varun Sivaram and Noah Gordon write. It “cannot build a globally competitive battery industry that does not require unending subsidies if it relies only on today’s technology.”
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Hamas After Sinwar: “No doubt, killing Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was a righteous act,” FP’s Steven A. Cook writes. “Yet as proficient in avenging blood as the Israelis have become in their decades-long struggle with terrorism, they have never managed to bring an appreciable end to violent resistance.” For more on this topic, register for Tuesday’s FP Live conversation.
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The Middle East After Sinwar
Oct. 22 | 11 a.m. EDT
The killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, raises several questions about the future of the Israel-Hamas war and the broader regional conflict between Israel and Iran. Can Hamas regenerate? How should Israel think about next steps? Join FP Live for an in-depth discussion with retired U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, who oversaw U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan at the height of the counterterrorism effort in those countries. Petraeus also served as director of the CIA during the Obama administration. Register now, and submit your questions.
An Alliance of Autocracies?
On Demand
Are we witnessing the rise of a new global autocratic bloc? There are growing revelations about North Korea’s assistance to Russia in its war in Ukraine, just as there is evidence of cooperation between Iran and Russia. What does it mean for the wars in Europe and the Middle East? How does China fit in? FP’s Ravi Agrawal got to the heart of this budding alliance with Barbara Slavin and Chung Min Lee. Watch the conversation, or read the edited transcript.
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A ship carrying 16 migrants arrived in which country last Wednesday as part of a controversial new deal whereby Italy will process asylum-seekers there? |
- Serbia
- Turkey
- Albania
- North Macedonia
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From FP Analytics: Despite safe abortion access producing critical impacts on public health, education, and socioeconomic indicators, it remains a highly politicized issue—and 40 percent of women live in countries with partially or fully restrictive abortion laws. Explore why expanding safe access is vital to global health, gender equality, and the sustainable development goals in FP Analytics’ new Insight Brief, produced with support from the Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs at Northwestern University.
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Answer: C. Italy’s far-right government has undertaken strict new measures in an attempt to combat a surge in migration, Michele Barbero wrote last year. Test your global news knowledge with our weekly “What in the World?” quiz. Go to the latest edition.
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