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Ryk BlueStar's avatar

Thank you for writing this article, I very much appreciate this view of cooperation within Arabia, for together they accomplish much.

Inquiry: the story discusses that both Iran and Saudi Arabia were inducted into BRIX but I thought that Saudi Arabia has not accepted the invitation. Has there been a recent change?

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Think BRICS's avatar

Right but they are anyway partecipate in several events. They still are one foot in and one out 🙂

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Ryk BlueStar's avatar

That is great that they (Saudi Arabia) are at the table. Both Iran and Saudi Arabia are inheriters of great civilizations from the past. It is great to see them work together. Thank you for the update.

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钟建英's avatar

Hope for the peaceful future Middle East, and even a peaceful and safe Israel-Palestine in which Jews (and Palestinians) enjoy good relations with their neighbours and put an end the tragedy of ongoing genocides.

If only Western “liberal democracies” could learn from the true liberal democracies of the BRICS nations.

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Ryk BlueStar's avatar

It seems that there is now a divergence between the positions of the governments of western democracies and the people that live in those countries. I value a BRIX collaborative based model. I am realizing that one person should not be the chief executive, there is too much capability for distortion of harmony with one person. I am thinking that a council of 7 that appoints a prime minister might be a better head for a government. More oversight. Councilors come from different geographical regions. We have to evolve government away from one person at the top.

Xie xie for your thoughts.

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钟建英's avatar

Good suggestion. I tend to think there are many possible institutional models, and would avoid being fixated on a single model (eg “Western liberalism”). Just try out something and see what outcomes it delivers, vs being fixated on an a priori institutional models regardless of its consequences.

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SadiQBichi's avatar

i'm indeed the happiest user on substack,

looking forward to see how this cooperation will rise to shape the asian & middle-eastern political order

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Berta Nelson's avatar

This meeting & now, just a few days later, a military drill shared by Egypt & China. Both Saudi Arabia & Egypt have been kept in line by UK/USA for decades. To see these moves toward greater autonomy is inspiring for the region. For sure, the divide & conquer routine needs to be overcome by remembrance of the region's shared culture & identity. Helplessly watching the genocide go on for 18 months has perhaps shaken foundations of justice & decency. IT IS TIME TO UNITE!

It's interesting that BRICS, which is primarily a trade, finance & cultural inter-connection, shows up also in the context of shared security. This is undoubtedly due to shared security needs of the region at this time. When people share trade, ideas, culture, financial instruments & investments it is perhaps not surprising that they look to possibilities of their shared influence.

We've seen a similar convergence with the Central Asian BRICS members, the "stans" also joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The security situation there has been shared problems with 'insurgent groups" causing chaos. Thus, BRICS has become an incubator for alignments of all kinds between people.

The shared threat is the hegemonic warmongering "west" which seeks to keep its colonial/military dominance. Alignments that primarily seek national sovereignty, mutual respect & shared prosperity must also deal with this seemingly external threat. However, greed, pride, arrogance, violence & domination exist within us all. The real challenge --& the inspiration that BRICS holds-- is a system that supports our best human tendencies.

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