Hit me with a BRIC(S)

If I think of a clay brick, it takes me to my childhood where you can see multiple cottage industries running klins in rural india making bricks at a tiny scale. The process is very simple, dig up the clay, clean it and mix it with water to make a uniform lump, put the lump in molds and heat it in a kiln. That’s how you make a strong brick out of porous weak clay.

When it comes to BRICS as an organization, it is never either a political, economic or military organization. There is no common culture, ideology, political or economic systems between member countries. Two out of five are authoritarian regimes with communist ideologies. There are border disputes between India-China and Russia-China. China has grown into economic powerhouse so there is no possibility of creating an alternate economic institutions like common currency or payment systems without accepting Chinese hegemony. All the other countries have an opinion that it is better to deal with a known evil rather than an unknown one. In essence, no one country is interested in putting efforts to make a uniform clay lump, mould it and heat it to make strong BRICS.

BRICS is just a bunch of misfits having tea once a year to discuss their hardships with Western systems.

Here comes Trump, who started out as “using tariffs to re-industrialize USA” to now “Using tariffs to release Bolsonaro and to stop wars“. This is started by Biden when he weaponized SWIFT payment system and seized Russian assets, now continued by Trump. USA, rather being a neutral marketplace, it is choosing sides while undoing years of American progress in creating global financial institutions like Petrodollar and SWIFT payment system. No one trying to de-dollarize world economy except USA itself.

When President Trump said that he would end Russia-Ukraine war, everyone thought that he would do it by negotiations but not by strong arming India to stop buying Russian oil. USA has to make up its mind on who their biggest enemy is. Because just imagine for a second, USA cannot stop China from buying Russian oil. If India stops buying it, it would raise the global crude prices while forcing Russia to sell its oil at a more discounted price to China. China would and can buy more oil than it needs and has a capacity to make additional facilities to store and process crude oil at a breakneck pace. India cannot afford oil in the international market and results in stifled growth and high inflation while its competitor China buys cheap oil at 50 cents on the dollar.

There is no wrath like a Modi scorned.

Due to all these misadventures by Trump, now BRICS has a purpose to fulfill, an agenda to achieve. You cannot keep bullying countries and expect nothing to happen. You cannot keep insulting visiting heads of states without any repercussions. Modi is being forced to shake hands with China at upcoming SCO Summit due to unprovoked provocation by Trump. Remember, India did not even respond to “Elephant-Dragon Tango“ invite by Xi to India’s counterpart Draupadi Murmu on April 1st 2025. There is no other choice left with BRICS nations other than to retaliate against tariffs in some shape or form. Their options can vary from all the BRICS nations having reciprocal tariffs either 50% or half of it 25%. Or can also put tariffs on American service exports to those nations. Trump not only shaped the clay brick but also heated it enough to harden it and handed it over to China only to get hit in the face.

An object at rest will remain at rest, and an object in motion will remain in motion at a constant velocity unless acted upon by a net external force.

This is Newton’s first law of motion which also applies in geo-politics. There is a thing called status-quo which you would want to change if it is not working for you. Unluckily for USA, its President want to have the only thing working for US to be removed. As one starts to breath even before their conscience fully develops, one will only realize that the air is most important thing to live only when one enters into medium which is lack of air. Sometimes people do not actually realize what is working for them until they lack it.