What better sign of the growing confidence of Brazil, Russia, India and China than the first BRIC summit recently held in Yekaterinburg, Russia? Whilst little substance may have been agreed, it is striking that these four powers convened to discuss such issues as reforming the IMF.

 

 

As world growth fell off a precipice last year, many suggested that the simultaneous contraction of major economies exposed the idea of decoupling as little more than wishful thinking. In some quarters it is now being suggested that the blow to the global economy was so immense that the BRICs could be knocked-off their growth paths. This has been short-lived and some emerging markets are now bouncing back whilst the developed world's growth remains depressingly sluggish. Of course, each nation is profoundly different: Russia's dependence on commodities has left it exposed and it has been hurt more by the economic crisis.

 

 

The emergence of the BRICs pose as many cultural as economic questions. The rise of China could challenge the Western notion of what it is to be modern. Between 1750 and 2000 global GDP per person exploded 37 times after thousands of years of stagnation, which has been attributed to Western capitalism and democracy. China is challenging this by exhibiting dynamic growth without democratic institutions. In the wake of the bubble in the West, it would seem the coming years will be marked by competing models of capitalism and of governance. It is noticeable that whilst the Western press focused on the BRIC summit itself, BRIC members were also meeting at the latest Shanghai Cooperation Organisation session, continuing diplomatic visits and preparing for the upcoming Non-Aligned Movement summit in Egypt - the networking without the West keeps developing. The BRICs have not been shaken off course though some think "the next big thing" is, still, America.

 

 

Photo: Aenneken

 

 

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