Russia's leadership in establishing the BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) is emblematic of its desire to end US hegemony and rewrite the rules of the international system. Rachel S. Salzman tells the story of why Russia broke with the West, how BRICS came together, why the group is emblematic of Russia's challenge to the existing global order, and how BRICS has changed since its debut. The BRICS group of non-Western states with emerging economies is held together by a shared commitment to revising global economic governance and strict noninterference in the internal affairs of other countries. BRICS is not exclusively a Russian story, but understanding the role of BRICS in Russian foreign policy is critical to understanding the group’s mission. In a time of alienation from the Euro-Atlantic world, BRICS provides Russia with much needed political support and legitimacy. While the longterm cohesion of the group is uncertain, BRICS stands as one of Vladimir Putin's signature international accomplishments. This book is essential reading for scholars and policymakers interested in Russian foreign policy, the BRICS group, and global governance.
Table of Contents
Contents
List of Figures
Acknowledgments
A Note on Transliteration and Sources
Abbreviations
Introduction: Russia, the West, and the BRICS
1. Status Quo Revisionism: Post-Soviet Russia and the International System
2. From BRIC to BRICS: An Institutional History
3. Laying the Rhetorical Foundation for BRICS: The Evolution of the Concepts of Sovereignty and National Identity, 2000-2007
4. Potemkin Villages and Rhetorical Bridges: BRICS in Russian Policy, 2008-2013
5. From Bridge to Bulwark (and Back Again): Russia and BRICS After the Onset of the Ukraine Crisis
6. BRICS from Other Perspectives: The Views from India and China
Conclusions: Russia and BRICS in an Age of Strategic Uncertainty
Bibliography
Index
About the Author
Reviews
"Salzman comprehensively ascertains the main internal and external drivers of Russian foreign policy through appropriate research methods."—Rising Powers Quarterly
"Rachel Salzman provides an invaluable detailed analysis of the BRICS’s place in Russia’s “complicated relationship with the dominant international system.” Before 2014 Russian policy vacillated between providing a bridge between rising and established powers and revision of the international order; Russian annexation of Crimea marked a shift to outright revisionism. This contrasts with India and China having benefited enormously from the existing globalization context, and favoring less sweeping adjustments. Salzman demonstrates both the groups’ common interest in revising international institutions and the constraints on achieving major change. The final chapters discuss shifts in priorities in India and China as well as Russia, as all three increasingly look to other regional organizations."—Harley Balzer, Professor Emeritus, Georgetown University
"Rachel Salzman has written a terrific book - insightful, admirably balanced, and sharply written. She cuts through the self-serving rhetoric to show that Moscow's interest in the BRICS is superficial and above all instrumental. This framework is less a template for global governance than a tool to promote Russia as a great power, and consequently to be emphasized or marginalized according to circumstance."—Bobo Lo, Brookings Institution
"Rachel Salzman’s analysis of Russia’s role in creating and nurturing the BRICS organisation – comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of how deteriorating ties with the West have led the Kremlin to seek allies in pushing for the creation of a ‘post-West’ global order."—Survival
"The book sheds unique light upon this contested and under-researched group of nations and highlights the transient nature of the system of global governance."—LSE Review of Books
"What Salzman demonstrates more than anything else is that narratives of foreign policy are important guides for action. For sure, there have been some other useful studies on Russia and BRICS, most notably, by Cynthia Roberts among American experts. But none of these works match Salzman’s deep detail on the words of Russian officials and experts, with particular reference to Vladimir Putin."—The Russian Review
About the Author
Rachel S. Salzman is a visiting scholar in the Department of European and Eurasian Studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. She was previously a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University's Center for Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies. This is her first book.
