What Are Iraq's Chances Of Joining BRICS? What Are The Consequences?
By Sotaliraq Ali Al-Hamdani
Iraq faces many obstacles that hinder its opportunity to join the BRICS group, despite the availability of most of the conditions that require joining this group, which constitutes a competitive pole for the United States of America, according to economic experts who spoke to (Al-Mada).
The BRICS group is a global economic bloc that seeks to break the hegemony of the West. The idea of establishing it began in September 2006, when the first ministerial meeting of the foreign ministers of Brazil, Russia, India, and China was held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
This bloc includes 5 countries that are considered to have the fastest economic growth in the world: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The word “BRICS” in English is an abbreviation that includes the first letters of the names of these countries.
The BRICS group has become one of the most important economic blocs in the world, due to the growth numbers that the countries of this bloc have achieved over the years, which has made it the focus of attention of many other countries, which continue to want to join the bloc.
Conditions for joining BRICS
Joining the BRICS group requires the fulfillment of several conditions, the most prominent of which is that “the country’s economy be a major one in the region, and that it has the potential for economic growth in the future,” according to the economist, Dr. Nabil Al-Marsoumi.
Among other important conditions, Al-Marsoumi adds to (Al-Mada), “the country must have an independent and stable political system, and that the state be fully sovereign, and have a strategic location that allows it to be a focus in global trade.”
The economist stresses another condition, which is that “the country should not be hostile to one of the main countries of the group, and that it has close relations with them.”
Al-Marsoumi explains, “Most of these conditions are met in Iraq, but the American hegemony over the economic decision makes it lose a basic condition for joining BRICS, through the United States seizing oil money and transferring it to the US Federal Bank, and then transferring it to the Central Bank of Iraq.”
He continues, “The United States also places harsh conditions on the movement of the dollar and imposes sanctions on banks, which restricts Iraq’s monetary sovereignty over its funds.”
He explains, “BRICS aims to use national currencies to conduct trade settlements, and this is also a way to find an alternative to dollar trade and protect foreign exchange reserves.
He added, “However, the Iraqi economy is single-minded and completely dependent on oil, which contributes more than 97% of its total exports priced in dollars, while the remaining small percentage is limited to exporting some goods with low added values, such as mineral fuels, mineral oils, citrus peels, watermelon, and salt.”
He concluded by saying, “This is what makes the benefits that Iraq gains from joining BRICS limited and fraught with risks, and it may face an American reaction that increases the bleeding of the Iraqi dinar, especially since one of the goals of BRICS is to establish an effective model to oppose the dominant position of the West led by Washington.”
Barriers To Joining
The economic researcher, Omar Al-Halbousi, agrees with Nabil Al-Marsoumi that joining the BRICS group requires that “the country possess a strong economy and an industrial base that enables it to compete and add to the group, not be a burden on it.”
Al-Halbousi explains to Al-Mada, “Since 2003, Iraq has witnessed the systematic destruction of industry, agriculture, the private sector, and an economy that is reeling and burdened by many intertwined problems, all of which constitutes an obstacle to Iraq’s accession to BRICS.”
He continued, “In addition to this is Washington’s control over Iraq, which possesses many pressure cards that enable it to prevent Iraq from leaving under its control, and moving towards joining a group that constitutes a competitive pole for the United States of America.”
He explains, “Iraqi oil imports are under Washington’s control, which exposes the Iraqi financial situation to a setback in the event of joining BRICS.”
He added, “In addition to the United States’ military control through its military presence in more than one base, Washington also possesses political cards that can form a strangling cordon for the Iraqi government.”
From these data, it becomes clear that “there are many obstacles that hinder the opportunity of Iraq to join the BRICS group, represented by the presence of a group of obstacles facing Iraq that are owned by the United States of America, which exposes Iraq to serious consequences in the event of joining,” according to Al-Halbousi.
He points out that “Iraq does not have an economic system or an industrial base that qualifies it to join, to be an addition to the group. Rather, its entry will burden it, which means a lack of opportunities to join BRICS, and officials’ talk about joining is financial, economic, and political suicide.”
BRICS To Counter The Dominance Of The Dollar
Iraq is facing an ongoing dollar crisis despite the measures taken by the government and the central bank to control the rise in exchange rates.
Observers believe that the move towards joining the BRICS group will be important after the latter sought to issue a currency that would compete with the US dollar in an attempt to end Washington’s influence and its sanctions on countries and banks that violate its policies and conditions.
In this context, economic researcher Halim Salman says, “The US Federal Reserve is on its way to allowing the 14 previously sanctioned banks to deal again in dollars in a limited manner, and in doing so they can enter dollar liquidity that will help the market stabilize and reduce the exchange rate.”
Salman confirms to (Al Mada), “But on the condition that these banks continue to operate within the standards, and do not violate the conditions that will be imposed on them in exchange for returning to dealing in dollars.”
He explains, “If the government succeeds in eliminating the bottleneck of the dollar value of trade with Iran, the country will witness a major shift in the currency market, as there are sanctions on Iran that do not allow Iraq to deal through the platform in financial transfers, so it has become free and obligatory to get rid of 12 billion.” Dollars requested from the parallel market annually.” LINK
