Episode summary:

In this episode, I discuss the BRICS—what it is, where it came from, and what significance it holds for the future of international politics. Reflecting on the bloc’s history and the most recent BRICS summit that took place last month, I explore the BRICS’ relationship to the emerging multipolar world order, and tackle the question of how we on the anti-imperialist left should think about projects like the BRICS, which pose a threat to Western hegemony without directly or explicitly challenging the capitalist-imperialist world system.

Return to Bandung is hosted by Pranay Somayajula, an Indian-American writer, researcher, and organizer based in Washington, D.C. His work explores themes of diaspora, (inter)nationalism, anticolonial politics, and the many lives and afterlives of empire. You learn more about Pranay and read his writing on his website, as well as on his Substack blog, culture shock.

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Sources and helpful links:

• Laurence Piper — The BRICS phenomenon: from regional economic leaders to global political players (Transnational Institute, April 2015)
• Joint Statement of the BRIC Countries’ Leaders — Yekaterinburg, 2009
• Kazan Declaration: Strengthening Multilateralism for Just Global Development and Security — Kazan, 2024
• Paul Millar — “How the BRICS nations failed to rebuild the global financial order” (France 24, August 2023)
• Paulo Nogeira Batista — BRICS financial and monetary initiatives – NDB, CRA, and a possible new currency (November 2023)
• Atlantic Council — Dollar Dominance Monitor
• Yanis Varoufakis — “US ‘neo-imperialist’ dollar scheme explained” (Geopolitical Economy Report, Feburary 2023)
• Ben Wray — “It’s Time to Dismantle the US Sanctions-Industrial Complex” (Jacobin, February 2024)
• Marco Rubio — "Tyrannical China wants to topple the US dollar" (The Telegraph, May 2023)
• Lydia Polgreen — “We’ve Just Had a Glimpse of the World to Come” (The New York Times, October 2024)
• Farah Stockman — "The Summit in Russia Should Be a Wake-Up Call for the West” (The New York Times, October 2024)
• Vijay Prashad — Neoliberalism with Southern Characteristics: The Rise of the BRICS (Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, May 2013)
• Samir Amin — “Contemporary Imperialism” (Monthly Review, July 2015)
• Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research — Sovereignty, Dignity, and Regionalism in the New International Order (March 2023)
• Mao Zedong — On Contradiction (August 1937)
• Qiao Collective — “Why China’s Vaccine Internationalism Matters” (April 2021)
• Vijay Prashad — “We Know a Different World Will Be Born Out of This Mess” (Tricontinental Institute, January 2024)
• Kwame Nkrumah — Neo-Colonialism, the Last State of Imperialism (1965)

Social links:

Return to Bandung:

• Twitter: twitter.com/returntobandung
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/returntobandung/

Pranay Somayajula:

• Twitter: https://x.com/p_somayajula
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pranay.somayajula/
• Website: https://www.pranaysomayajula.com/
• Substack: https://www.culture-shock.xyz/