The Need for Alternatives to U.S.-Domination of International
Financial Institutions

Developments in Global Finance

Attempts are underway to develop alternative processes for international financial settlements to avoid or at least mitigate U.S. imperialist domination. The U.S. uses its control of international financial institutions to dictate its wishes and extend its global reach of exploitation and oppression. The domination includes using sanctions and blockades as weapons of undeclared war, such as the blockade of Cuba that causes Cubans great difficulties and suffering and stifles their economic development.

The other issue many are seeking to address is the unprecedented worldwide flow of newly-produced value into the pockets of owners of debt concentrating wealth and power in fewer hands and depriving the people of means to develop their economies and solve problems.

Methods to counter the U.S. sanctions, financial control, weaponization of the U.S. dollar and unprecedented debt levels include the creation of new financial mechanisms within the BRICS framework of participating countries. More broadly many countries are determined to stop paying the existing debt to imperialist public and private global financial institutions and develop new methods to mobilize social wealth for development.

BRICS

The BRICS organization of nations initially began in 2006 with the participation of Brazil, Russia, India and China, with South Africa joining soon after. By 2024, membership has grown to nine with the addition of Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates while many others express interest to join. BRICS now encompasses almost half the population of the world. The organization is seen as a counter to the U.S.-led G7 and a means to develop and modernize economies without the interference of the U.S. imperialist-bloc and its coterie of doting followers including Canada.

Deliberations at the BRICS 2023 Summit in South Africa, held from August 22-24, included the need to prepare an alternate international payment system to circumvent the U.S.-dominated Swift system and other means the U.S. uses as weapons of control and war. Members discussed the desirability of using their national currencies in trade and financial transactions within the BRICS group and with other trading partners to bypass the stranglehold of the U.S. dollar. This entails the need to strengthen banking relations among BRICS countries and others for settlements in national currencies, rather than going through Swift or using the U.S. dollar as intermediary, which always ends up siphoning away needed social wealth and negating self-reliance in development. Global use of the U.S. dollar as the main reserve currency and means of settlements are important factors in the ability of U.S. imperialism to continually run up its debt, service it with yet more debt and pay for its massive global military, its subversive system of worldwide NGOs, use bribery to undermine others, organize regime change and wage wars.

BRICS members also wish to improve and extend the role of the BRICS New Development Bank as a mechanism that countries can use as an alternative to international borrowing from U.S.-dominated public and private financial institutions. Global borrowing from imperialist financiers with the ensuing crippling interest payments has become a huge problem for the international community.

BRICS members agreed in 2013 to create the New Development Bank with a commitment of $100 billion in social wealth. China forwarded $41 billion towards the pool; Brazil, India and Russia $18 billion each; and South Africa $5 billion. The extent of U.S. domination is shown concretely in the fact that the BRICS New Development Bank, although seeking independence from U.S. control, still uses U.S. dollars for loans and settlements. With this being the case, the New Development Bank and those dealing with it are forced to buy and trade for U.S. dollars and avoid transactions with countries under U.S. blocking sanctions, which block third countries from engaging with countries the U.S. sanctions. The threat of such sanctions or new ones is perceived as a risk by banks within the BRICS countries. This is particularly the case following the December 2023 amendments to U.S. Executive Order 14024. The amendments give the U.S. Treasury the authority to impose blocking financial sanctions on foreign banks involved in transactions with Russia or any trading in goods from the existing U.S. export control list.

Within the situation, global settlements in national currencies do not completely solve the problem since U.S. authorities require such bank transactions to be reported to them, even though they are none of their business. This makes payments in national currencies only a partial solution to the problem of U.S. control and sanctions. Increasingly, many are seeking global trade and other relations completely outside the global reach of U.S. imperialism, although this carries with it the risk of isolation from mainland Europe, the U.S. and others in the Five Eyes (Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand) and U.S. threats of regime change and military attacks.

The U.S. threat is real against BRICS member Russia and others such as Cuba, Iran, Venezuela and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). They are all under U.S. sanctions, blockades and military threats such as the current U.S./NATO proxy war against Russia, using Ukraine as a pawn since its takeover in a 2014 U.S.-organized regime change. The U.S. warns all others to avoid contact with prescribed countries on pain of similar attacks. The threats against BRICS will certainly increase with the anticipated membership of Iran and others. The U.S./Zionist genocide in Palestine is a depraved attempt to warn all of the fate that could befall them if they dare to deviate from U.S. control but increasingly worldwide resistance to U.S. hegemony is braving the situation and finding itself capable of weathering the storm.

Where There Is Oppression, There Is Resistance

Climate justice march, COP26, Glasgow, November 5, 2021

Opposition to domination, control and social class oppression is in the DNA of all humanity. The human factor/social consciousness demands empowerment and progress towards an existence free from tyranny and class oppression and control. The imperialists have shown themselves in practice as unfit to rule and unwilling to relinquish their hold on power without being forced to leave. People are bravely striving for empowerment and an end to imperialism, war, class oppression and the ruination of Mother Earth. There is a striving for harmonizing human relations so that the rights of humanity are met.

At a minimum, attempts are underway to find solutions to international participation in the exchange of medical supplies including pharmaceuticals, food, fertilizer and other necessary goods and services and for alternatives to the current self-serving system of drowning the world in debt. Ways are being developed to settle international trade and assist one another with mutual development, free from U.S. dollar domination. The presence of an alternative to U.S. financial domination and control such as BRICS, and the heroism of independent Cuba, the DPRK and others are themselves liberating exercises for humanity everywhere to turn the tide in the people's favour.

The next BRICS summit, its 16th annual iteration, will take place from October 22-24, 2024 in Kazan, Russia, concurrent with the country's term as presidency of the organization.

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This article was published in

Volume 54 Number 29 - April 2024

Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/MS54296.HTM

    

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