| Today, the well-attended BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, finishes. It is a wake-up call for Europe that Russia is not isolated globally despite Western sanctions.
It may even lead to a provocative question: where does Europe see its place in a fast-developing multipolar world? It may be hard to imagine that the EU, solidly anchored in the G7, would one day want to join the would-be alternative grouping led by China, Russia, Brazil, India and South Africa, commonly known as BRICS. However, Russia and other rising global players have embraced a “multipolar” reality for years now, questioning the existence of the West-driven unipolar order. As it happens, this new multipolar world is also increasingly debated in Europe. The development inevitably scares the West, hence the absence of the word multipolar from key US official public statements. As Washington escalates tensions with Beijing after the US elections, Brussels stakeholders fear things will get worse. For its part, Beijing courts the EU, describing it as a driver of “the multipolar world”, while other countries, such as South Africa, also push the EU in the same direction. But as long as Vladimir Putin is still in the picture, any EU engagement with the BRICS should be ruled out, at least for now. But can the EU be at the centre of a platform uniting India, Brazil and South Africa, with other rising economies throughout the world? Many in Brussels would possibly dream about such a photo opportunity. The EU is at a crossroads and already feels external pressure on how to position itself. China wants Europe to question the unipolar world order, while the US needs Europe to counterbalance the rise of South East Asia. Officially, Europeans recognise a multipolar reality and it is no coincidence that the new European Commission is focusing on fixing problems at home – especially on competitiveness – to survive amid rising global tensions. Driven by the Mario Draghi and Enrico Letta reports, Brussels does want to follow its own path, which means it will be tough not to face contradictions. | 