BRIC dziesięć lat później, czyli anty-Zachód w rozsypce
BRIC ten years later: The anti-West route

Summary/Abstract: The economic slowdown of the BRICS countries in 2013 and the pessimistic forecasts for 2014, their lack of political successes and their ineffectiveness – all that resulted, in late 2013 and early 2014, in publications and opinions that questioned the usefulness of the BRICS formula in the explication of international relations. However, BRICS’s weakness should be analyzed in a broader context, in both political and economic terms. First, the BRICS countries are not primary economic partners for each other. Their economies are not complementary. The level of intraregional trade is very low, only slightly above 8%. The low degree of economic cooperation is accompanied by a lack of common political concept and initiatives concerning the Western world, which is clear for instance from the attitude of most of the political and economic elites of Asian countries (India and China) towards globalization. The dynamic development of emerging markets in the last two decades is, therefore, not a sufficient basis for them to play a leading role in international relations, as in most cases the states lack clearly defined visions. They simply adapt to the actions and trends inspired and produced by the West. It seems, therefore, that in the coming years, rather than cooperating within the group, the countries will carry out consultations or organize meetings, and BRICS will not be a real alternative to the West; all the more so, since the BRICS countries prefer evolution, adaptation to new conditions, and reject revolution. BRICS will, therefore, remain a rather “improbable coalition” – as one American scholar put it – due to numerous differences in the members’ potentials, policies, and visions.66 This makes them weak. Another difference between these countries is their development strategy model. Marion Fourcade believes that the term BRICS is inadequate and does not have any significance in political economy. It used to be a useful term to describe a symbol of a potential alternative to the West, but it has proven to be just an illusion

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