Over the years the coming together of Brazil, Russia, India and China into the BRIG
forum has been treated as a moment in time when emerging economies started
making their mark in the global arena. Similar patterns of extraordinary productivity
and growth as well as tangible development have been the driving force that predicts
these countries as being the world economic leaders of the future. South Africa has
now come into BRIG, which necessitated the changes in the acronym to BRIGS, an
alleged hegemon of Southern Africa and the continent's economic power house.
This country joined BRIG group, adding to the world's emerging economies and as a
representative of the African continent. When South Africa became a member, its
main aim was to develop its economy and align itself socio-politically with the
emerging economies of the world. These emerging economies have shown some
positive growth. The emergence of BRICS has recently captured the commanding
heights across all borders in the 'South' and the 'North'. It is evident that South Africa
has striven to be recognised worldwide, by its foreign policy, stable politics and its
sophisticated economic policy. South-South multilateral agreements have been
widely discussed in International Political Economy, but little has been said about the
impact they make in the socio-economic development of the emerging countries.
The issue of multilateral agreements concerning BRIGS is still relatively unexplored
in comparison to other multilateral agreements that South Africa has ventured into.
Globally the BRIGS multilateral agreement has generated different views concerning
its future expectations of promoting growth for its member states, particularly South
Africa.
The dissertation has discovered and highlighted the importance of South Africa as a
member of BRIGS, and how its engagement in the multilateral agreement will benefit
the country with opportunities that lie ahead. This paper also looked at the
insinuation that South Africa may be used by its powerful BRIGS partners and
thereby lose its continental dominance. The study scrutinises and allows open space
for further investigation to be made about the BRIGS multilateral agreement and its
impact on socio-economic development in the Republic of South Africa. Many argue
that South Africa's entry in BRIGS is a dangerous and risky move while others prefer
to say it is a wise decision taken by the country. However the action taken by South
Africa is a fait accompli and the country should plan ahead and understand the
needs of its national interests and foreign policy to achieve its goals. / Thesis (M. Soc Sc (International Relations) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2013
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nwu/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/14362 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Mphehlo, T |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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