BRICS Currency and Dollar Hegemony: Passing of the Torch?
The dawn of the 21st century has brought with it tremendous uncertainty with regard to the nature of global dominance. As doubts concerning the United States’ viability as a hegemon emerge, questions about how new powers may come to prominence circle (Rapayane, 2020). The BRICS bloc -- consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, respectively -- is a collection of regional powers in the developing world that have engaged in a series of high-profile collaborations together in the ostensible interest of increasing global advocacy within the developing world (Kubayi, 2022). One radical means that has been proposed within the BRICS bloc is the creation of a currency shared between the countries (Saaida, 2023). Through the combined economic power of these rising and established regional powers, some individuals believe that the BRICS currency has the power to challenge the U.S. Dollar for currency hegemony, creating an unprecedented situation in the global economy. In the present study, the author explores the viability of a BRICS currency acting as a meaningful source of counter-hegemonic power which could, in reality, undermine the power of the U.S. Dollar on a global level. To accomplish this, the author conducts two case studies relevant to the creation of a third-world international currency, drawing on various theorists of realism in order to do so. The first case study explores the New International Economic Order movement of the 1970s, which sought to build economic self-determination for developing countries by creating a reparations-minded global economy. The second case study explores the emergence of the Euro as it relates to the impact of gradualism on the currency’s staying power and the perpetually fraught politics of economic power sharing. The author concludes that though the BRICS currency is unlikely to be realized due to gaps in geopolitical goals, asymmetrical powers across the different BRICS regions, and a lack of critical distance from the present mechanisms of neoliberal capitalism, vying for currency hegemony presents a distinct venue for “great powers” competition unique to the 21st century.
BRICS, Dollar, Currancy, International and Area Studies, Leadership Studies, Political Science
City University of New York - City College
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