Algeria Officially Applies For BRICS Membership

Facts

• Algeria on Monday submitted a formal bid to join the "BRICS" bloc of emerging economies comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa — a move aimed at diversifying the country's trade relations. The application was praised by Beijing and Moscow.
• The request was reportedly confirmed by the Algerian Foreign Ministry official Leyla Zarruki, who argued that the North African country has completed all required measures to join the economic alliance.
• This comes after Algeria's Pres. Abdelmadjid Tebboune hinted earlier that the country was interested in joining the bloc, claiming that the group is an "economic and political force." BRICS currently accounts for roughly a quarter of the world's gross domestic product.
• Tebboune criticized the "marginalization of developing countries, within the various institutions of global governance" at the June "BRICS+" summit, stressing the need to create a "new international order" to achieve greater international "stability and prosperity."
• BRICS expansion will be discussed at the 2023 summit in South Africa. A number of countries, including Saudi Arabia, are reportedly expressing their desire to be part of the alliance.
• Meanwhile, the BRICS countries are reportedly brainstorming a common financial infrastructure, which would include a new reserve currency based on a "basket" of currencies of the member countries in order to reduce dependency on the dollar and the euro.

Sources: Msn, Middle East Monitor, France24, Newsweek, Timeslive, and Economic Times.

Narratives

• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Global Times. The fact that Algeria — Africa's largest gas exporter — now also wants to join BRICS underscores the alliance's increasing economic significance and the Algerian government's foresight. In times of increasing economic uncertainty, and a "rules-based world order" serving Western interests alone, BRICS catalyzes a multipolar order through increasing economic integration among the countries of the global South.
• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Boston Globe. BRICS has so far failed to live up to the high expectations of emancipation from the Western-dominated world order. It's unlikely that Algeria or Saudi Arabia joining the bloc will change the marginal role BRICS has so far played in world politics for now. Too diverse are the political and economic systems, and too small is the intersection of common values. The Ukraine war and China's dominance are also causing friction — but the West still must keep an eye on this group.