Saudi Arabia and BRICS
Saudi Arabia and BRICS
Another sign of an emerging alternative world order
The inclusion of Saudi Arabia in the recent BRICS expansion is a reflection of important tendencies in the evolving world-system.
First, there has been an expanding economic and cultural relation between China and Saudi Arabia, which has been developing on a basis of mutually beneficial trade since the 1990s.
Secondly, the growing use of renewable energy is pulling Saudi Arabia away from overdependency on the exportation of crude oil and toward the diversification of its economy. China is economically and technologically well-positioned to play a cooperative and supportive role in Saudi diversification.
Thirdly, the long-standing arrangement between Saudi Arabia and the USA—in which the Kingdom provides oil, and the USA provides military aid and supports the Kingdom with respect to its rivals in the region—is no longer in the interests of Saudi Arabia, because the USA is not the dominant economic power that it was in the 1950s, and because the politics of the region are changing.
These tendencies are dimensions of an emerging alternative world order, characterized by several regional poles, South-South cooperation, mutually beneficial trade among nations, and respect for the sovereignty of nations. It is being created in practice by China and the nations of the Third World, not in direct confrontation with the USA and other Western imperialist powers, but as an alternative construction in which all are invited to participate, insofar as its principles are respected. It is being promoted by China and the Third World as the best guarantee of world peace and prosperity.
I have written on these themes in my commentary of December 13, 2022, “China and the Arab world: The land of the Prophet embraces the wisdom of the East.”
A free subscription option is available, with capacity to read, send, and share all posts. A paid subscription ($5 per month or $40 per year) enables you to make comments and to support the costs of the column; paid subscribers also receive a free PDF copy of my book on Cuba and the world-system. Ten percent of income generated through subscriptions to the column is donated to the Cuban Philosophical Society.