The US and Europe are acting short-sighted, provoking Russia to turn towards rapidly developing countries, including BRICS and SCO, Die Zeit wrote.

Russia’s partnership with China and major developing countries may lead to the establishment of a new world order where there will be no place for the domination of the US and Europe, the newspaper reported.

The recent BRICS and the SCO summits, which took place in the Russian city of Ufa, signify the beginning of this process.

The BRICS project often causes a smile among Western countries. The Russian economy is in crisis, China is experiencing stock market fever, while Brazil cannot cope with its own economic problems. The economic performance of the BRICS countries is extremely heterogeneous: for instance, China's economy is 28 times larger than that of South Africa. Moreover, these countries do not have a unified system of values.

However, all this does not mean that the West should not take seriously the emergence of a new powerful geopolitical center, Die Zeit wrote.

According to the newspaper, the long-term alliance between Russia, China and other "third world" countries can influence the prevailing world order and lead to a significant shift of powers.

The BRICS countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – account for 42% of the world’s population, 27% of world’s GDP and 17% of all international trade. Since 2000, they have been experiencing rapid development and are seeking to combine their political weight to strengthen their influence on the international arena and shift dominant positions of Western countries.



