Thursday, December 1, 2011

10 years of BRIC countries



Ten years ago, Goldman Sachs' global economist Jim O'Neill introduced the BRIC statement into our lives. He argues that "the economic potential of Brazil, Russia, India and China is such that they could become among the four most dominant economies by the year 2050" (Financial Times, 2006).

Since 2001, the BRIC countries continued to develop rapidly. 2008 Financial Crisis affected even if they are not influenced much of Europe and America. In ten years, the BRIC countries have made a lot of meetings and have signed for co-operation.

Can the BRIC be rival of the European Union or ASEAN as a political alliance?

BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) continued to develop in the last 10 years. Today when we look at the European Union, we can see that the Euro zone started to clattered. Moreover, the European Union appears as economical union instead of a political union, the biggest disadvantage of the union is that there is not a common foreign policy and energy policy. ASEAN also has the same problems. If your union has not a powerful country like China, you cannot influence your region easily. Therefore, a strong association between the BRIC countries will affect both the European Union and ASEAN.

CIVETS versus BRIC

The biggest rival or alternative of BRIC can be CIVETS. "A colleague at the Economist Intelligence Unit has suggested more attention be paid in 2010 to the CIVETS: a second tier of big emerging markets consisting of Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa" (Economist, 2009). The CIVETS (Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa) is an acronym for favored emerging markets coined in late 2009 by Robert Ward, Global Forecasting Director for the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The term has also been used by HSBC's chief executive Michael Geoghegan. These countries are favored for several reasons, such as a dynamic and diverse economy and a young growing population. So, CIVETS can be a powerful alternative of BRIC. 

Last but not least, both BRIC and CIVETS countries can affect deeply G-6 countries (France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. To become politically active, the United Nations Security Council five permanent countries' veto right needs to be resolved. 


İsa Burak GONCA