For the past 30 years, America has been playing a game of whack-a-mole, trying desperately to beat back any threats to its unipolar hegemony. But if recent reports are any indication, that game may soon be coming to a close. Whether or not that ending is a bad thing depends entirely on how American leaders proceed.
The announcement that BRICS—the loose alliance of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, an answer of sorts to the G7—are about to expand has produced much teeth gnashing. The addition of Saudi Arabia, Iran, the UAE, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Argentina has been portrayed by some as the end of American and Western hegemony. Brazil’s president declared that the world “will no longer be the same.” French President Emmanuel Macron lamented that the expansion was a threat to the Western order.
To be clear, the states being added to BRICS are no small fish: Saudi Arabia has long been a key American partner, and Iran has long been a serious American enemy. That they are both joining together in one organization is noteworthy. Likewise, Argentina’s addition may indicate the bloc is strengthening in South America. And there are many nations who are willing to join, from Indonesia to Algeria to Venezuela.
But there are many reasons to resist any teeth gnashing.
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