‘Empires die slow': A South African expert warns of painful Western decline

Business Insider

7 days ago

In the last few years, Russian influence has seen tremendous growth in Africa, particularly after the formation of the BRICS group of nations. This has led many to deduce that the West is slowly becoming irrelevant on the continent, as highlighted by David Monyae at the Valdai Russia-Africa conference in Pretoria.
Russian influence in Africa has grown significantly in recent years, largely influenced by the formation of the BRICS group.
David Monyae, of CACS at the University of Johannesburg, suggests that the Western post-1945 world order may be gradually weakening.
South-South cooperation and trade in local currencies are presenting alternatives to traditional Western-dominated systems such as the U.S. dollar and SWIFT.
David Monyae, Director of the Centre for Africa-China Studies (CACS) at the University of Johannesburg, suggested that the West's grip on power may be loosening.
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'I think the most important thing to say is that as much as we see the crumbling of the post-1945 world order, empires do not just die overnight, they die, what I call, a painful death, a slow death, and we see the U.S. and Western countries that crumbling comes with cracks in the pillars' he stated.
'When you talk here in terms of the dollar itself, I mean that's the central pillar, and we see more and more countries trading in local currencies, we see alternatives to SWIFT, and the creation of global public goods that is very innovative,' he added.
He then went on to point out the relevance of the growing influence of the BRICS group, highlighting the significance of South-South interaction as nations like as Russia and South Africa increase their collaboration within BRICS and prepare for the forthcoming G20 conference in Johannesburg, as reported by Sputnik.
'I think if we have more conversations, among global south countries and BRICS as they are doing, I think it's preparing the ground for such eventuality, to ensure that should the U.S. economy collapse, we don't start from ground zero.'
The Valdai Discussion Club
The Valdai Discussion Club, in collaboration with the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), has kicked off the third Russian-African Conference on July 28 in Pretoria, South Africa, with the theme "Realpolitik in a Divided World: Rethinking Russia-South Africa Ties in a Global and African Context."
The conference's objectives are to create and foster networks of Russian and African experts interested in collaboration, discuss key global issues in confidence, and formulate recommendations for effective foreign policy work.