Saudi Economy Minister Faisal al-Ibrahim told the World Economic Forum at the Davos Summit last month: We evaluated many different aspects of it before a decision was made, and now we are in the middle of it. ”
Saudi Arabia has good reason to formally delay its participation in BRICS.
This was when, in January 2024, it first revealed that it had not yet accepted an invitation to official membership for the group, and that it was “a Western perception of this association, to the crisis of the Iranian Red Sea.” He said it was due to involvement and pressure from Israel US. , and still applies.
In regards to the first thing, Saudi Arabia will definitely feel uncomfortable with its name and national brand being included in many agenda-led promotional materials that misprint BRICS as an anti-Western alliance.
The kingdom once existed firmly in western camps, but in recent years, it has taken pages from Indian books by multi-aligning between them and what Russia now calls the “world majority.” I did it.
This epic strategic re-proofreading was by the Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohamed bin Salman (MBS), whose character and vision were praised by Russian President Vladimir Putin in the second half of 2022, and analyzed here at the time. It was done. MBS, of course, doesn’t want to promote the false perception that he is fighting away from the West.
Saudi Arabia doesn’t want to formally join an organization that is a member of the latest support that historic rivals have given to the kingdom’s Hooty enemies, so the second reason for Iran’s involvement in the Red Sea crisis remains relevant. I am. .
Furthermore, Iran also supports Hamas. Hamas has surged to slow work on the Middle Eastern European Economic Corridor (IMEC), a sneak attack on October 7, 2023, which is supposed to make Saudi Arabia a key node in Euro-Asian trade.
The final reason is based on the people mentioned above, and Iran does not want to join Saudi Arabia, which also participates in the group that is currently a member of the West Asian War between Israel and Iran-led resistance. Includes joint pressure from investors. The shaft was furious.
The two major ones, Gaza and Lebanon, have officially ended since then, but neither of them have approved Saudi Arabia to formally join BRICS.
MBS hopes to bring back IMEC as soon as possible, as it is expected to serve as an integral part of his “Vision 2030” Grand Strategic Plan (for everything that has happened since it was announced in 2016, Its end date will likely be retreated) revolutionizing his country’s socioeconomic system.
That would not be possible without the massive US involvement and Israeli cooperation, the latter requiring formal Saudi recognition of the Jewish state, and perhaps explains Bibi’s concessions to Gaza.
Reports that their shared Iranian archenemies are openly opposed by officially joining the same group they are already members of, and that he is reimposed his “maximum pressure” policy on the Islamic Republic. Inside, doing so shortly after Trump returns to power both abandons IMEC.
The US and Israel offer Saudi Arabia’s tangible economic and financial benefits, but BRICS offers nothing to its members, as explained here after the latest Kazan Summit.
Furthermore, Trump has been under the false impression that BRICS is focused on non-interference and wants to create a new currency that rivals the dollar (later exposed by Indian Foreign Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar). Arabia has now decided to formally participate.
It could abandon MBS’s ambitious IMEC plan, one of the hearts of his “Vision 2030” Grand Strategic Plan, so he would not be considered literally BRICS at all. I hate putting them at risk.
Therefore, it makes perfect sense why Saudi Arabia is officially participating in BRICS, as Saudi Arabia currently enjoys the benefits of all knowledge sharing and elite networking. Full member.
Thus, by delaying such decisions indefinitely, MBS can maintain a careful multi-alignment of the kingdom between the West (which this formulation includes Israel) and the “world majority.”
This article was first published on Andrew Korybko’s Substack and republished with kind permission. Become a subscriber to the Andrew Korybko newsletter.
