Patrick Bond

Patrick Bond — The BRICS summit in Johannesburg concluded on August 24 after a major disappointment: the long-overdue challenge to U.S. dollar hegemony was stillborn due to the bloc’s conservative forces.
Patrick Bond — Talk of a “BRICS+” with new members and a “de-dollarization” agenda are raising the profile of this network to an unprecedented — and unrealistic — level.

Early March 2022 provided a surprising reflection of the extent to which dominant Western norms of international finance could retain hegemony, even as the world’s North-South polarisation suddenly worsened. The Shanghai-based New Development Bank (NDB) was set up by five countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) – at a 2014 Brazilian conference of presidents.