Paper Titles & Abstracts

This paper studies how Russia has developed its consultation and cooperation with the BRICS over the last years. It looks both at procedural matters and at substance. It is argued that the BRICs do not form a coherent group of emerging powers, but cooperate selectively. One of the main driving forces of the lowly institutionalised cooperation is the will to have a greater voice in international affairs, a bigger impact on the agenda and the ambition to change international institutions to reflect a multipolar world. On many issues, however, the BRICs hold widely diverging views. Deeper cooperation is inhibited by more structural factors, such as the trade deficit between India and China, the undervalued yuan or lack of trust between Moscow and Beijing over Central Asia.Two cases are studied in depth: the attitude of Russia versus the other BRICs on new international financial regulations (including the reform of the IMF, the Financial Transaction Tax and the global reserve currency) and on the 'Responsibility to Protect' (R2P) / 'Responsibility while Protecting' (RwP). Russia-BRICs cooperation is assessed in the light of Russia's broader foreign policy goals and perceived interests. It is juxtaposed to Russia's strategic partnership with the EU with two objectives: first to compare positions of Moscow and Brussels and secondly to study how Russia's consultation within the BRICS group has affected relations with the EU.