Illustration: GT

BRICS expansion, a sign of the rise of the Global South, marks the decline of US hegemony and its ideological bedrock, American exceptionalism. American exceptionalism posits that the US is the "best" country in the world and portrays US dominance as a permanent feature of global politics. Presumed allies and adversaries alike are expected to follow the economic, political and military dictates of US policymakers no matter the consequences for their own sovereign development. 

The 15th BRICS Summit in late August came after months of increased global interest in expanding the mechanism. By the end of the summit, BRICS added six new members: Argentina, Ethiopia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Iran. The expansion undermined Western mainstream media reports hyping divisions within BRICS.

The six new members of BRICS are a powerful signifier of a multipolar world order where no single nation "calls the shots." While BRICS does not target third countries, BRICS expansion is, in part, a response to the perils that US hegemony has inflicted on the world. Iran, for example, has experienced decades of crippling unilateral sanctions from the US that have caused economic instability and social hardship nationally and globally. That Iran was admitted to the first multi-country expansion of BRICS is a testament to the mechanism's opposition to unilateral sanctions and its commitment to peaceful development. 

Argentina's admission to BRICS cannot be separated from the US' foreign policy of treating Latin America as its "backyard." Neoliberal reforms pushed by the US under the "Washington Consensus" have contributed greatly to the impoverishment of Argentina's economy. Powerful Wall Street hedge funds called "vulture funds" have exploited Argentina's debt burden by siphoning the nation's wealth with the support of the US judicial system. Argentina's BRICS membership is a major step toward economic sovereignty.  

Ethiopia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE's addition to BRICS represents a significant shift in the geopolitical calculus on the African continent and West Asia. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the US declared "the end of history" and moved quickly to secure its hegemonic interests in these resource-rich regions of the world. This led to devastating invasions of sovereign countries and persistent attempts to develop deep and unequal relationships with "friendly" governments. Its geopolitical relationship with Saudi Arabia has been one of the most important for the US. The US has dominated the world energy market through the purchase of Saudi Arabia's vast oil reserves in US dollars, the principal reserve currency in the world since the end of World War II. 

Egypt, Ethiopia and the UAE have been important to the US' broader interests of maintaining dominance over North Africa and West Asia. US interference in the affairs of these nations and the broader region played a role in their interest in joining BRICS. In the case of Ethiopia, the Biden administration has threatened sanctions over the country's internal conflict in the Tigray region. African and West Asian states have all received stern warnings from the US that continued trade with Russia during the Ukraine conflict could lead to sanctions and other forms of punishment. 

The truth is, however, that BRICS is not simply a rejection of US policy. Global South countries share common interests and in many cases complementary economies. BRICS not only offers win-win alternatives to the US-led financial system, but also follows a policy of non-interference in other countries' internal affairs. It is therefore in the interests of the Global South to diversify relations regardless of the status of the relationship that individual countries possess with the US. In fact, it is within their right under international law. 

BRICS is just one of many examples of the growing strength of the multipolar world. Multilateral mechanisms in all spheres of development are also growing, from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to China-led projects like the Belt and Road Initiative. BRICS' historic expansion thus injects even more hope and inspiration into a world order that has seen so much devastation from US-led unipolarity and its ideological foundation of American exceptionalism. 

The author is an independent journalist in the US and co-editor of Friends of Socialist China. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn