By ANDREW KORYBKO*
Russia is finally correcting false perceptions about the BRICS ahead of this month's summit
many of alternative media community they were deceived by some of the main influencers, in imagining that the BRICS is something that it is not. In particular, they think it's an alliance of fully sovereign countries that have banded together because of their shared hatred of the West, which is why they are supposedly planning to deal a deathblow to the dollar in the very near future. Those who share “politically inconvenient” remarks, as in the analyzes that follow below, are often attacked by the alternative media community:
"Popular expectations of the BRICS new currency project should be tempered"
"South Africa showed that the BRICS is not what many of its supporters assumed"
"Explaining China and India's reported disagreements over BRICS expansion"
However, Russia is finally correcting false perceptions about the BRICS ahead of this month's summit, which discredits the narrative presented by key influencers in the alternative media community. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov recently confirmed that there are differences among its members over the formal expansion of the group, Russia is reluctant to publicly share its official position on this sensitive issue and there is no chance for the BRICS to create a new currency so soon. Here are the corresponding reports from TASS about each point:
"'There are nuances' among BRICS members regarding the group's potential expansion – Kremlin"
"Russia will not rush to announce its position on BRICS expansion – Kremlin"
"Common currency in BRICS will hardly be viable in the near future – Kremlin"
Extrapolating them in the order they were shared:
BRICS is indeed divided between those who want to seize the historic moment to expand the bloc as much as possible immediately and those who believe that a slower pace is more in line with their common interests;
Russia appears to be more supportive of the second approach, otherwise it would not pass up the opportunity to score political points vis-à-vis the West by promoting BRICS expansion to prepare the global public for a supposedly imminent new era of geo-economic affairs;
And the natural differences between the various members of the bloc make it extremely unlikely that they will all agree to cede some of their economic sovereignty by actively promoting a new currency at the expense of their respective national currencies.
None of this is surprising and not the result of Western influence, but it was entirely predictable given the internal dynamics of the BRICS and its members' relations with the West, which objective observers deeply understand but which the alternative media community is largely unaware of, a as some of the top influencers have distorted and sometimes omitted related facts to further their agenda. There have always been legitimate arguments for and against the rapid expansion of this bloc, as well as the pace at which it accelerates financial multipolarity processes.
For example, by moving too quickly, there is a risk of weakening the BRICS, as it will be more difficult to reach consensus, but, by not taking advantage of other countries' interest in participating in their activities to some extent, there is a risk of squandering this historic moment, which leads to the need for a compromise like BRICS+. The same can be said about the pace at which the BRICS accelerates the processes of financial multipolarity, since all its members, with the exception of Russia, are in relationships of complex economic-financial interdependence with the West.
Building on the previous observation, while all BRICS members have a common interest in moving away from the dollar and its disproportionate dependence on Western trade and investment, they intend to do so differently. Dealing the dollar with a death blow and ruining the western economy would harm their own interests, and while some might think that this would still serve Russia's interests, they are wrong as the resulting economic-financial destabilization of China and India is not conducive to they.
As such, it has always been unrealistic to imagine that the BRICS is an alliance of completely sovereign countries that have come together due to their shared hatred of the West and are therefore planning to overthrow the dominance of the dollar in the near future, as claimed by some of the main influencers of the alternative media community. The only reason this false perception went viral is because the target audience didn't know any better, as those they trusted distorted and sometimes omitted facts related to this to further their agenda.
Left unchallenged, the unrealistic high hopes that many around the world have been led to have for the BRICS will inevitably lead to deep disappointment after the group's summit this month fails to meet their expectations, making them susceptible to hostile suggestions. A critical mass of multipolarity supporters may then “defect” from the “5D chess master plan” conspiracy theories about the BRICS and adopt the “doom and gloom” theories promoted by the West to demoralize them.
In retrospect, Russia should have proactively managed perceptions about the BRICS well in advance to avoid this scenario, but it was prioritizing efforts to protect its integrity in the face of unprecedented propaganda onslaught from the West and did not have enough additional experts available to do so. . Also, until recently, I also didn't realize how inaccurate the opinions of many multipolarity advocates were about this group, again for the same reason of having an insufficient number of experts and not being able to cover everything.
This view explains Russia's belated attempts to correct these false perceptions just three weeks before the next summit. It may be too late to prevent some partisans of multipolarity from "defecting" from the "5D chess" conspiracy camp to the "doom and gloom" conspiracy camp, the same as can be said about Russia's arrest last month. of infamous “doom and gloom” conspiracy theorist Igor Girkin, but it's better than nothing, and it shows that the Kremlin is now aware of the threat that certain conspiracy theories pose to its soft power interests.
Girkin's on the Operação special were “hostile”, while the alternative media community's conspiracy theories about the BRICS are “friendly”, but both manipulate Russia's supporters' perceptions of sensitive issues, causing them to become increasingly divorced from reality over the years. of time. It took a while, but Russia is finally correcting these false perceptions and tackling the associated conspiracy theories, and we hope that it will build on this momentum to do the same soon on other sensitive issues.
Respectfully expressed disagreements and well-meaning constructive criticism should always be encouraged, but distorting and sometimes omitting facts to artificially manufacture a false perception that advances an agenda is unacceptable and should always be opposed. Key influencers in the alternative media community, therefore, must decide whether to play the former role in support of Russia's soft power interests or whether to continue to play the latter, and thus remain the “useful idiots” of the West.
*Andrew Korybko holds a master's degree in International Relations from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. Book author Hybrid Wars: From Color Revolutions to Coups (popular expression).
Translation: Fernando Neves de Lima.
Originally published in the newsletter [https://korybko.substack.com/p/russia-is-finally-correcting-false] of the author
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