I imagine that this article must feel like an icecold shower to BRICS enthusiasts, but the truth is the truth, and that is what journalism is all about (or should be). Thanks!
Agreed, he'll either ignore it or dismiss it. The guy's just a lot of hype. He knows what he's doing, which is misleading his audience about this and other subjects too, but he keeps doing it for whatever reason. He's regularly wrong and I don't take him seriously. He's "infotainment" at best, fake news at worst, but usually somewhere in between.
You're right, some people want internet celebrities to confirm their wishful thinking fantasies from their position of (falsely) perceived authority, and many don't even mind being lied to after whatever they're told would happen doesn't unfold.
It's a secular religion for them, basically a cult, and they've formed entire online communities and even very deep friendships after networking with likeminded people who share the same delusions. These views have become a major part of their identity and they can't accept that it's based on falsehoods.
That's why they'll very aggressively attack anyone who shares politically convenient facts proving that things aren't anywhere near what they thought they were and were told by their trusted celebrity influencers. There are underlying psychological problems at play and this is symptomatic of them.
Me too, and BRICS is a stepping stone in that direction, but it's not the great leap forward that Pepe and other enthusiasts pretend that it is. Such progress, no matter how glacial, is still better than no progress though.
Unless you’re privy to the discussions which took place behind closed doors and/or are apprised of the content of multiple sideline bilateral meetings between heads of state, you, we, cannot know the strategies/strategising behind the somewhat anodyne final communique.
For instance, a consensus might have been reached that an expanded and expanding BRICS should crawl before it walked before it ran. Or else, or in addition, there might have been fairly widespread agreement that the US, and consequently the world, was about to implode under the weight of unsustainable debt, leading to a depression, which would alter the global balance of power, America and the West being the primary victims.
In short, participants in the summit may well have agreed to play for time, kick the can down the road, before setting out a more substantive plan of action. That, in Deng-like fashion, BRICS, should hide its capacities and bide its time.
There's no "5D chess master plan" at play about "hiding BRICS' capabilities and biding its time". The expectations that many had of BRICS in general and this summit in particular were always false and therefore never going to be met in reality. It's time to correct perceptions.
We know for a fact that no tangible outcome followed the summit. None of its grand geo-economic initiatives were rolled out, all that came after was a bunch of spin. You're also ignoring what I proved about the NDB and China complying with US sanctions on Russia.
You know sometimes I don't necessarily agree with your negative outlook. I appreciate the multi-vectored approach at analysis but I also think sometimes you tend to be to quick to give analysis on issues that are so broad in terms of big picture. It almost seems you are secretly wishing for the failure of the BRICS efforts.
As such this is an accurate assessment of the Kazan meeting. As well as your assessment of NDB currently. However, we must consider the position of the Western liberal order and the non-western non-liberal order. The head nations of the latter are all influx. Brazil is well compromised, Russia is mired in SMO, China is still calibrating all over the world. The Western led institions are entrenched. So what did you expect from Kazan in terms of rolling out alternatives when neither of those leading NAM nations are in a much needed peace-time position. Remember the conditions and geopolitics that enabled the US created institutions to take root.
In conclusion, the West led order although buckling and reeling, with it's power waning, Empire hasn't fallen yet. It's institutions still play a significant role. If they recalibrated from their full spectrum domination of other countries, respect sovereignty and aspirations of other nations, show cooperation rather than conducting regime change, terrorism and basically Satanic ritualistic murder worldwide (Palestine), then the Global South, would have blissfully complied. As such they haven't, can't and systemically are heading towards a crash and burn, and will take down a lot of vassals with them. When it's time for those nations to reach for a raft to stay afloat, they will thank their lucky stars, BRICS was in ascendancy.
I actually wrote this analysis on Monday but waited till today to publish it in order to give top Alt-Media influencers enough time to fully discredit themselves about this.
I also don't "secretly wish" anything: I'm a cold, hard realist in outlook, and I'm morally opposed to my "peers" deliberately misleading people.
BRICS and this summit were so overhyped, I've never seen anything like this from Alt-Media, and the ultimate outcome was nothing of tangible significance.
That doesn't mean that the summit failed, as I argued, but just that it's time for everyone to correct their perceptions and call out the charlatans among us.
You might want to check out the foremost expert on the subject, Ben Norton, Geopolitical Economy Report. The NDB is headed by Dilma Rousseff, and you should know better than to expect her to be inconsequential.
I don't consider him to be an expert, let alone a foremost one. He seems to be more of a pundit in my opinion. As I explained, it was none other than Dilma who confirmed in summer 2023 that the BRICS Bank is complying with the US' sanctions against Russia.
This fact cannot be denied, nor can it be denied that nothing of tangible significance at all was achieved at the summit. That doesn't mean that it wasn't a success, but just that all honest observers should accept this fact and manage their expectations about BRICS going forward.
I imagine that this article must feel like an icecold shower to BRICS enthusiasts, but the truth is the truth, and that is what journalism is all about (or should be). Thanks!
I hope that Pepe Escobar reads this.
Triumphalists only read triupmhalist screeds.
Agreed, he'll either ignore it or dismiss it. The guy's just a lot of hype. He knows what he's doing, which is misleading his audience about this and other subjects too, but he keeps doing it for whatever reason. He's regularly wrong and I don't take him seriously. He's "infotainment" at best, fake news at worst, but usually somewhere in between.
He represents a perspective that a sizable audience craves.
You're right, some people want internet celebrities to confirm their wishful thinking fantasies from their position of (falsely) perceived authority, and many don't even mind being lied to after whatever they're told would happen doesn't unfold.
It's a secular religion for them, basically a cult, and they've formed entire online communities and even very deep friendships after networking with likeminded people who share the same delusions. These views have become a major part of their identity and they can't accept that it's based on falsehoods.
That's why they'll very aggressively attack anyone who shares politically convenient facts proving that things aren't anywhere near what they thought they were and were told by their trusted celebrity influencers. There are underlying psychological problems at play and this is symptomatic of them.
I am sympathetic to the idea of the Global South being treated fairly.
Me too, and BRICS is a stepping stone in that direction, but it's not the great leap forward that Pepe and other enthusiasts pretend that it is. Such progress, no matter how glacial, is still better than no progress though.
They’re okay with the IMF. That’s an achievement - for IMF cheerleaders.
Unless you’re privy to the discussions which took place behind closed doors and/or are apprised of the content of multiple sideline bilateral meetings between heads of state, you, we, cannot know the strategies/strategising behind the somewhat anodyne final communique.
For instance, a consensus might have been reached that an expanded and expanding BRICS should crawl before it walked before it ran. Or else, or in addition, there might have been fairly widespread agreement that the US, and consequently the world, was about to implode under the weight of unsustainable debt, leading to a depression, which would alter the global balance of power, America and the West being the primary victims.
In short, participants in the summit may well have agreed to play for time, kick the can down the road, before setting out a more substantive plan of action. That, in Deng-like fashion, BRICS, should hide its capacities and bide its time.
There's no "5D chess master plan" at play about "hiding BRICS' capabilities and biding its time". The expectations that many had of BRICS in general and this summit in particular were always false and therefore never going to be met in reality. It's time to correct perceptions.
We know for a fact that no tangible outcome followed the summit. None of its grand geo-economic initiatives were rolled out, all that came after was a bunch of spin. You're also ignoring what I proved about the NDB and China complying with US sanctions on Russia.
You know sometimes I don't necessarily agree with your negative outlook. I appreciate the multi-vectored approach at analysis but I also think sometimes you tend to be to quick to give analysis on issues that are so broad in terms of big picture. It almost seems you are secretly wishing for the failure of the BRICS efforts.
As such this is an accurate assessment of the Kazan meeting. As well as your assessment of NDB currently. However, we must consider the position of the Western liberal order and the non-western non-liberal order. The head nations of the latter are all influx. Brazil is well compromised, Russia is mired in SMO, China is still calibrating all over the world. The Western led institions are entrenched. So what did you expect from Kazan in terms of rolling out alternatives when neither of those leading NAM nations are in a much needed peace-time position. Remember the conditions and geopolitics that enabled the US created institutions to take root.
In conclusion, the West led order although buckling and reeling, with it's power waning, Empire hasn't fallen yet. It's institutions still play a significant role. If they recalibrated from their full spectrum domination of other countries, respect sovereignty and aspirations of other nations, show cooperation rather than conducting regime change, terrorism and basically Satanic ritualistic murder worldwide (Palestine), then the Global South, would have blissfully complied. As such they haven't, can't and systemically are heading towards a crash and burn, and will take down a lot of vassals with them. When it's time for those nations to reach for a raft to stay afloat, they will thank their lucky stars, BRICS was in ascendancy.
I actually wrote this analysis on Monday but waited till today to publish it in order to give top Alt-Media influencers enough time to fully discredit themselves about this.
I also don't "secretly wish" anything: I'm a cold, hard realist in outlook, and I'm morally opposed to my "peers" deliberately misleading people.
BRICS and this summit were so overhyped, I've never seen anything like this from Alt-Media, and the ultimate outcome was nothing of tangible significance.
That doesn't mean that the summit failed, as I argued, but just that it's time for everyone to correct their perceptions and call out the charlatans among us.
You might want to check out the foremost expert on the subject, Ben Norton, Geopolitical Economy Report. The NDB is headed by Dilma Rousseff, and you should know better than to expect her to be inconsequential.
I don't consider him to be an expert, let alone a foremost one. He seems to be more of a pundit in my opinion. As I explained, it was none other than Dilma who confirmed in summer 2023 that the BRICS Bank is complying with the US' sanctions against Russia.
This fact cannot be denied, nor can it be denied that nothing of tangible significance at all was achieved at the summit. That doesn't mean that it wasn't a success, but just that all honest observers should accept this fact and manage their expectations about BRICS going forward.