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President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete of Tanzania, on state visit to South Africa from 18 to 21 July 2011, called upon South Africa to shoulder its “leadership responsibility” in African affairs. Maintaining that it is “Africa’s only economic, political and military power of significance” and urging it to play a leading role in Africa, he concluded: “Therefore, South Africa has a leadership responsibility on the African continent. South Africa has to play that role and you cannot shy away from it. If you don’t perform that duty, we’ll suspect your intentions.”250
South Africa’s capital accumulation process, relative international strength and considerable African continental strength give it enormous advantages and privileges in African affairs and in the relationship between the continent and the rest of the world. This translates into political strength which is its power and authority which it should use in substantially increasing its advancement of popular continental interests. Its political, economic, financial, trade, human resources development, technological and military strength gives its leaders the status of being senior to leaders of other African countries.251 Related to this is the fact that, according to Arthur Mutambara, globally when people want to know what is going on in Africa, they want to know the South African view of the continent. Given the fact that it provides Europe, the United States of America, Japan and countries such as Brazil, Russia, India and China with markets and that it is their key African trading partner, its position on African continental affairs and within multilateral institutions and forums is taken seriously.252 Directly related to factors characterising South Africa is its intermediate position in international power relations. These characteristic features of South Africa are such that its increased progressive role within African continental developmental and integration agenda will be a substantial and welcome addition to its Africa policy within the context of BRICS interests offering the best prospects for the achievement of the continent’s economic liberation and the end of its neo-colonial dependence on the advanced capitalist countries.253
While a considerable number of scholars and other individuals maintain that if the level of development between South Africia and the rest of Africa in favour of South Africa remains or continues, we will see more people from the rest of the continent migrating to South Africa and that this migration will not be sustainable, Mutambara views this development in its social dimension as the process through which South Africa will contribute to continental integration and structural socio-political and economic progress and development. In other words, this relationship between South Africa and the rest of the continent should be viewed not only in terms of the movement of human capital, professionals, labour and investment of capital to South Africa. He maintains that because of its largest and strongest economy and its relatively more credible, transparent, free and fair political environment particularly in terms of freedom of speech, association and other related issues, South Africa is serving as the meeting point of Zimbabweans, Tanzanians, Nigerians, Zambians, Congolese, Malawians, Kenyans and people from other African countries. By virtue of this migration and attraction of human capital from the rest of the continent, South Africa being the largest and strongest economy is becoming increasingly an important player in African continental affairs. The point is that these nationals from other African countries in the country want to see it being active in the internal affairs of their countries and they will more and more exert pressure upon its authorities and organisations for it to serve popular interests in their countries. In the process, South Africa will contribute not only to the development and progress of these countries, but also to the continental integration and development and progress. In terms of policy formulation and implementation, nationals from these African countries will have significant input into the South African policy towards the rest of the continent.254These are opportunities the rest of the continent offers South Africa which it should effectively use in the advancement of its long-term strategic interests and those of the continent.
Unity and solidarity between South Africa’s Africa policy
and BRICS interests
There is unity and solidarity between South Africa’s Africa policy and BRICS interests. Its policy towards Africa complements key interests and purposes of BRICS. BRICS interests and purposes also complement South Africa’s Africa policy. A study supported by the ministers of finance and the heads of central banks of BRICS members highlights the complementarities of their economies, their roles as growth drivers of the global political economy. It also emphasises the strategic importance of their cooperation and the strengthening of their economic links.255
BRICS members are countries of crucial strategic importance within the global political economy. They are sources of primary products, goods and services, markets of manufactured products, outlets for export of capital and reserves of cheap labour within the international division of labour. They are of strategic importance in a hierarchy of political, economic, trade, financial, human resources development, technological and military international power relations. They constitute forty three per cent of the world’s population. They comprise enormous land share of the world. They are endowed with enormous natural resources. Brazil, the fifth-largest country in the world, surpassed only by Russia, Canada, China and the United States of America, covers forty seven percent of South America. With around sixty million hectares of arable land, it is enormously rich in resources such as coffee, soybeans, sugar cane, iron ore and crude oil.
Russia, known for its massive deposits of oil, natural gas and minerals, possesses around twenty per cent of the world’s oil and gas reserves. It has 121.5 million of arable land. It is an oil-supply economy with a surplus in general public accounts. India, a strong service provider, is second to China in being the fastest growing economy within BRICS. Together with Brazil, it is strong-internal demand-based economy. It is second to China as the country with the highest levels of saving and investment. China, the world’s third-largest country in land size, surpassed only by Russia and Canada, possesses about twelve percent of the world’s mineral resources. The global manufacturing workshop, it has a highly skilled and disciplined workforce and relatively low cost wages in the world. South Africa is the world’s largest producer of platinum and chromium. It has the world’s largest reserves of manganese, platinum group metals, chromium, vanadium and alumina silicates. It generates forty five percent of Africa’s electricity. Its public power supplier provides the fourth cheapest electricity in the world.
BRICS members have enormous opportunity in enhancing their position within the global socio-political and economic system through increased coordination of their political, diplomatic, economic, and financial and trade policies and strategies. Their strategic agenda for forging closer working relations is central to the consolidation and expansion of their role in global affairs.
While India and China are some of the world’s leading importers of oil and other natural resources, Brazil, Russia and South Africa are some of the world’s leading importers of oil, mineral resources and other natural resources. This means, among others, that there are enormous opportunities for increased trade relations among BRICS members in particular and among countries of the South in general. This puts BRICS members in a position that would help them to increase not only the North-South economic and trade relations, but also to make these relations better serve the needs of Africa, the rest of the South and the world. They have a high level of human resources development256 which is an indispensable asset in their efforts to achieve their internal and external objectives.
The leaders of BRICS members made an important declaration at the group’s fourth summit on 29 March 2012 in New Delhi, India. The overarching theme of their discussion was “BRICS Partnership for Global Stability, Security and Prosperity.”257 They committed BRICS to strengthen their partnership for “common development” and take their “cooperation forward on the basis of openness, solidarity, mutual understanding and trust.” They explained that BRICS is “a platform for dialogue and cooperation between countries that represent 43% of the world’s population, for the promotion of peace, security and development in a multi-popular, inter-dependent and increasingly complex, globalising world.” BRICS is for a future characterised by “global peace, economic and social progress.” It is committed to the strengthening of representatition of developing countries in the multilateral global governance institutions in order to enhance their effectiveness.
BRICS heads of state and government work with leaders of other countries to achieve the group’s objectives. They recognise, for instance, the ‘vital importance’ of stability, peace and security in the Middle East and North Africa” for the rest of the world. They maintain that Russia and China emphasise the importance of Brazil, India and South Africa in international affairs and support their aspirations to play a greater role in the United Nations.258 This is supportive of the fact that BRICS members aspire that all of them be permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and, as such, Russia and China will support Brazil, India and South Africa to become permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. Increasing growth and sustainable development, together with food and energy security and creating jobs to improve people’s material conditions are of critical importance in advancing economic development, eradicating poverty and combating hunger and malnutrition in many developing countries. They attach the special importance to the realisation of peace, security, growth, development and progress in Africa. In their words in the Delhi Declaration of the Fourth BRICS Summit:
We attach the highest importance to economic growth that supports development and stability in Africa, as many of these countries have not yet realised their full economic potential. We will take our cooperation forward to support their efforts to accelerate the diversification and modernization of their economies. This will be through infrastructure development, knowledge exchange and support for increased access to technology, enhanced capacity building, and investment in human capital, including within the framework of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development.259
Through their investment, financial and trade relations with Africa, South Africa’s BRICS partners particularly China, are playing a role which is of strategic importance for development and progress propects for Africa. With BRICS serving as a new global actor in its pursuit of its agenda of transforming the world for better for the developing countries and the rest of the world, Africa stands to benefit from this agenda. BRICS’s position that the current operations of the global system with its multilateral governance institutions and organisations controlled by the Western powers are not compatible with the achievement of a progresssive, better world and its proposals in providing their alternatives is the structural invaluable support to South Africa’s Africa policy. It is also support to Africa in its efforts to transform itself and its relations with the rest of the world. Directly related to this support factor, is the reality that South Africa maintains that the present operations of the global system should be changed for a prosperous, peaceful, democratic and truly independent and united Africa to be realised and that it is an important active participant in this process for continental and global change and transformation. Africa is bound to be at the centre of its development and progress prospects, not only benefitting from BRICS’s investment, financial and trade relations with it, but also in being provided with more leverage in negotiating better investment, financial and trade deals with Western governments and companies. Thanks to the collective position of BRICS members within the global political economy and their intensified expansion into the continent, Western companies and governments face unprecedented increased competition in Africa. This socio-historical development provides African countries with more room for maneuver in their relations with the Western powers and other countries.
They now have a solid alternative to accepting the dictates of the international financial institutions and of countries which control them. BRICS as a new global political, economic, trade, human resources development, financial and technological actor is Africa’s ally in advancing a global environment in which the continent’s interests are no longer taken for granted. Closer Africa-BRICS relations constitute a socio-historical opportunity for the continent. It is the responsibility of Africans to ensure that the continental and global political, economic and ideological space provided for by BRICS for development and progress prospects for their continent is used effectively to constitute a solid qualitative political leap forward towards its economic independence. BRICS is already shouldering greater responsibilities as a new global actor of increasing importance in international relations and cooperation in the interests of Africa, the rest of the South and the world. Its role in African affairs is structurally forcing Western powers to regard the continent as “a subject of independent decision” no longer as “an object of direction”260 in a global order of priorities. Through its creation of this global political, economic and ideological environment, BRICS has earned for itself a progressive role and prospects for the continent’s development and progress in the interests of the masses of its people.
Conclusion and Recommendations
South Africa has been championing multilateral efforts to resolve global problems. It has been providing practical progressive ideas on key global governance, democracy, political, economic, and financial, human resources development, trade and military issues, demonstrating its leadership in conflict resolution, peace and security, reconstruction and development in deserving African countries particularly as a donor country. Its membership to BRICS is a substantial and welcome addition to its diplomatic weapons in its contribution towards the transformation of continental and global socio-political and economic environment. Its being a member of BRICS is the forward movement towards a coherent or combined and articulated alliance characterised by strong negotiating positions within multilateral institutions and forums in the interests of Africa.
The fact that South Africa is stronger than any other African country in terms of its political, economic, financial, trade, human resources, and technological development gives it an opportunity to lead African countries on their way to structural change and transformation.
South Africa needs the rest of Africa in its contribution towards the end of the role the continent has continued playing within the international division of labour. Its contribution to the development of the rest of Africa depends primarily on Africans themselves. It depends, in particular, on the structural transformation of the relationship between African societies and their leaders. On the one hand, the implementation of long-term plans for African integration and African development requires that African leaders pay more attention to popular demands in their countries.
On the other hand, achievement of the objectives of integration and development requires that African countries demonstrate a concerted and tangible commitment to substantially reduce the over-dependence of the AU on Western donor funding. The legitimacy of continental projects driven by the African Union is questioned by the fact that Western donors fund ninety-seven percent of its programmes. Central to this problem is the fact that without external donors, the African Union cannot carry out its programmes. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, chairperson of the African Union Commission, in responding to the fact that nearly all of the African Union programmes are funded by donors, pointed out: “No liberated mind can think their development agenda can be funded by donors.” This response is valid particularly given the fact that Africans “should be more self reliant,” that their “governments must put more money there (in the AU).”261 In addition, as she points out, donors are also funding African institutions to develop the continent’s strategic agenda, a fundamental task whose conceptualisation should be financially taken care of by African countries through the African Union.
It is this important task of reducing the dependence of the African Union on Western donor funds that we should take into account while discussing the current role and future prospects of BRICS in Africa.
ГЛАВА III. АФРИКАНСКАЯ ПОВЕСТКА БРИКС
1. Роль стран БРИКС в урегулировании конфликтных
и кризисных ситуаций в Африке
Забота о сохранении мира и стабильности – важная сфера взаимодействия стран БРИКС и Африканского континента. В совместных заявлениях и декларациях глав государств – участников БРИКС регулярно подтверждается их готовность действовать совместно в решении проблем африканской безопасности. Так, в декларации, принятой на саммите БРИКС в г. Санья (КНР) в 2011 г. говорится: «Мы глубоко озабочены неспокойной обстановкой в регионах Ближнего Востока, Северной и Западной Африки и искренне желаем, чтобы затронутые этими событиями страны достигли мира, стабильности, процветания и прогресса и заняли подобающее им достойное положение в мире в соответствии с законными чаяниями их народов. Мы разделяем принцип, согласно которому следует избегать применения силы»262. Выступая на заседании Академического форума БРИКС в преддверии V саммита группы в Дурбане 26–27 марта 2013 г., министр иностранных дел ЮАР М.Нкоана Машабане высказалась за более тесное сотрудничество БРИКС с Африканским Союзом в вопросах мира и безопасности в Африке, отметив, что важность этого сотрудничества нашла отражение в резолюции 2033, единогласно принятой Советом Безопасности ООН при председательстве ЮАР в организации в 2012 г.263
Страны БРИКС настаивают на строгом соблюдении зафиксированных в Уставе ООН принципов «независимости, суверенитета и территориальной целостности каждого государства». Они выступили за решение политико-дипломатическими, а не военно-силовыми методами конфликтов в Ливии, Кот-д’Ивуаре и Судане и осудили натовские бомбардировки Ливии. В феврале 2012 г. Россия и Китай наложили вето на резолюцию СБ ООН, не исключавшую силовое решение кризисной ситуации в Сирии. «Вынесенный на голосование проект резолюции неадекватно отражал сложившиеся в Сирии реалии и посылал несбалансированные сигналы сирийским сторонам», – пояснил после голосования на заседании СБ ООН постоянный представитель России во всемирной организации Виталий Чуркин264.
Бразилия не выступила в числе пяти латиноамериканских стран против гуманитарной интервенции в Ливии, поскольку считала правительство М. Каддафи виновным в росте насилия в этой стране. Однако, поскольку события в Ливии наглядно показали, что применение силы чревато риском больших потерь и ростом нестабильности, ее отношение к этой проблеме изменилось. Президент Бразилии Д.Руссефф на заседании Генеральной Ассамблеи ООН в сентябре 2011 г. обратила внимание на тяжелые последствия военных интервенций, приводящих к усугублению конфликтов и жертвам среди мирного населения.
Предложенная бразильским лидером концепция «ответственности в процессе защиты» (responsibility while protect) призвана дополнить существующую концепцию «ответственности по защите» (responsibility to protect) и основывается на тезисе, согласно которому лучшая политика – превентивная дипломатия, так как она уменьшает риск вооруженного конфликта и человеческих жертв. Это предложение было выдвинуто в русле инициативы генерального секретаря ООН Пан Ги Муна объявить 2012 год годом превентивной дипломатии. Бразилия выдвинула также инициативу – «Сторонники посредничества» (Friends of Mediation), где говорится, что в случае использования силы действия должны быть законными, пропорциональными и ограничены рамками, установленными СБ ООН265. Министр иностранных дел Бразилии А. Патриота, выступая в СБ ООН 22 сентября 2011 г., подчеркнул, что в современном мире наблюдается тенденция к принуждению, расширению санкций и поспешному военному вмешательству, однако инструментами должны стать превентивная дипломатия и миротворческие операции, включающие три элемента: предотвращение конфликта, миротворчество и миростроительство. При этом важную роль в предотвращении рецидива конфликта может сыграть Комиссия по миростроительству ООН. А. Патриота также обратил внимание на необходимость более тесного взаимодействия с местным населением, улучшения подготовки миротворцев и укрепления их дисциплины266.