BRICS nations take on U.S. dollar, Western dominance

The BRICS nations, a group ofgrowing economiesincluding:Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, are reasserting themselves on the global stage.

The alliance is not new, but it has gained more attention in the last year because none of the countries have taken part in sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

• Listen to Nothing is Foreign

Supporters of the BRICSalliance saya multipolar world is what's needed right now given rising geopolitical tensions, insecurity, and inequality. They are calling for power to be decentralized from Western countries like the U.S. and the U.K.

Foreign ministers from each of those nations met last week to discuss theirpriorities: the possible creation of an alternative currency to the U.S dollar, the growth of their alternative to the World Bank, called the New Development Bank, and the likelihood of more nations joining thegroup.

South Africa is set to hold a summit ofBRICSheads of statein August. This week, we explore what the group stands for, why a non-Western power bloc is appealing to many countries in the Global South, and the skepticism around the alliance.

Featuring:

• Chidochashe Nyere, post-doctoral research fellow at the Institute of Pan-African Thought and Conversation at the University of Johannesburg.

Nothing is Foreign,a podcast from CBC News and CBC Podcasts, is aweekly trip to where the story is unfolding. It's hosted by Tamara Khandaker.