Different views on the role of BRICS were discussed in Brazil.
Tuesday, July 8, 2025
Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert.
The XVII BRICS Summit has come to an end in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The summit had an ambiguous aspect. On the one hand, good results were achieved in the area of trade and in the advancement of multilateral cooperation. On the other hand, the meeting between the leaders of the bloc failed to deepen the multipolar agenda established in previous summits.
The Summit took place on July 6 and 7 and brought together delegations from all member and partner countries, as well as representatives of candidate, interested states. The event was preceded and accompanied by several parallel multilateral forums, where state officials, businesspeople and experts discussed mutually beneficial conditions for new agreements and partnerships in various sectors.
In their speeches, the representatives of each country emphasized their demands and common interests with other members and partners of the bloc, thus allowing the needs of each side to be presented in a common platform for cooperation. In this way, the summit played an important role in multilateral dialogue and in the development of friendly relations between member and associate countries.
In the same vein, the Summit reinforced the previously established project of advancing de-dollarization. All sides agreed to deepen discussions on the creation of alternative payment systems within BRICS, strengthening direct trade in national currencies as well as creating the BRICS Currency as a store of value for the bloc. In this sense, the meeting was successful in expanding the financial and commercial ambitions of BRICS.
On a political level, there was little progress, but the bloc managed to reinforce important points already discussed at the previous summit in Russia. In the final declaration of the meeting, the member countries reiterated their support for diplomacy in resolving international conflicts, expressed concern about instability in the Middle East and called for an end to unilateral sanctions and for joint efforts to combat terrorism and rebuild countries affected by wars.
It is possible to say that the Summit failed to advance important discussions in the political sphere. Although important issues were debated and commented on in the final declaration, there was no discussion of the new challenges that have arisen for the BRICS in recent months. For example, the direct war in the Middle East, started by the Israeli aggression against Iran, brought with it a serious logistical problem for several intra-BRICS trade routes. The creation of a security system for these routes is today one of the main issues for the multipolar powers, but this issue was avoided at the Summit.
This omission is due to the ambiguous role of Brazil, the country that leads the bloc this year. Unlike countries in open hostility with the West, such as Russia, China and Iran, Brazil has a mediating role between the Western axis and the emerging powers. Not by chance, some weeks before the Summit, Lula was participating in the G7 meeting, also accompanied by Indian and South African leaders Cyril Ramaphosa and Narendra Modi – both who, like Lula, have been trying to reconcile Western and BRICS interests.
Some analysts suggest that Brazil’s ambiguous stance was the main reason why this summit was “emptier” than previous ones. In addition to Russian President Vladimir Putin not going to Rio de Janeiro after Lula failed to provide security guarantees due to the illegal arrest warrant issued by the Criminal Court of which Brazil is a member, the Chinese and Iranian leaders also did not attend the event. This absence of key figures in the current geopolitical transition process limited the Summit’s ability to discuss relevant issues.
Brazil’s insistence to reconcile Western and non-Western interests was clear at Lula’s press conference, in which the Brazilian leader openly advocated for inviting all G20 and G7 countries to join BRICS. Lula said that only in this way would it be possible to create a fruitful structure of global governance. In practice, this shows that while Russia, China and Iran see BRICS as a multipolar platform, countries like Brazil, India and South Africa still see the bloc as a mere multilateral mechanism, focused on economic cooperation and governance rather than on creating political representation for emerging states.
These divergences are normal and expected. Countries that are experiencing open hostility tend to see BRICS as a way to overcome the current geopolitical order, while countries that are not suffering attacks or sanctions still see some optimism in integration with the West. At some point, both visions of BRICS tend to merge into a common project.
Unlike Western organizations, marked by unilateral impositions, BRICS is a platform guided by consensus and mutual respect, where the opinion of each side is profoundly considered.
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We cover a lot of territory in today’s video including Trump and how his actions affected the entire world. Also we discuss how Iran vs Israel is NOT OVER, not by a longshot as Iran’s Defense Minister met with the Chinese today to have “very important discussions”. Last but not least I cover how another 9-11 style false flag may be imminent here in the USA.
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This is big as over 20% of the world’s oil supply flows through the Strait of Hormuz and it will definitely disrupt the energy markets when they open. Iran has also vowed revenge on the USA for attacking them yesterday but what form that revenge will take is up for debate. All of that and more are in today’s video blog.
UPDATE 341pm Pacific Time Massive GPS jamming has been unleashed in the Strait of Hormuz in recent hours, apparently by the Iranian armed forces, creating an electronic barrier that makes the passage and navigation of tankers and other ships difficult.
The situation seems to have become unbearable for safe navigation, with shipping companies now refusing to execute contracts.
The development means that the Straits will not be formally closed, but movement in the Gulf will become very difficult due to the disruption of their systems
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Guest Post by Peter Koenig, Reposted with permission.
June 16th 2025
It all started in the early morning hours of 13 June 2025, with what Israel calls “Operation Rising Lion”. Israel’s Air Force launched dozens of air strikes against Iran, targeting its nuclear [energy] program. According to BBC, in Iran’s own words, this is the biggest assault on Iran’s territory since the Iran-Iraq War of 1980-1988.
Iran has no nuclear weapons program, as confirmed multiple times by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), belonging to the UN system. However, after a 2024 inspection, the IAEA apparently reported enrichment to about 60%. This is not enough to make an atomic bomb, requiring at least 90%.
But for Israel which has a nuclear warheads arsenal of several hundred, this justified an unprecedented attack on Iran – a clear declaration of war. Israel’s nuclear bomb stockpile is outside of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Agreement, all quietly tolerated by the west led by the United States.
Only with the explicit backing of the White House, Israel would dare such an assault on a country with a military power that could by far exceed that of Israel.
As these lines are written, the situation on the Israel-Iran war is constantly changing.
The latest state of affairs is that within the last 48 hours the tables have turned by 180 degrees.
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ – 13 June 2025), on Monday, 9 June 2025, Prime Minister Netanyahu raised the possibility of strikes against Iran in a phone conversation with President Trump, confirmed by two U.S. officials. Trump responded that he would like to see diplomacy run its course before turning to military options. In an alert to the world, and short-circuiting diplomacy, on Wednesday 11 June, the U.S. pulled some non-essential personnel out of the region in case of an attack.
On Thursday, before the Israeli strike, Trump said he would not describe an attack as imminent, “but it is something that could very well happen.” Clearly, Trump has given Israel green light for an assault, before diplomacy could run its course. Thereby he was betraying not only Iran, but the entire Middle East, or better called Western Asia, but also the entire world, since by doing so he gave Israel carte blanche to potentially start WWIII.
Since Israel’s “surprise” air raid in the darkest early morning hours of Thursday, 13 June, the situation has changed dramatically. Iran has launched hundreds of high-speed warheads most of which penetrated unharmed Israel’s Anti-Ballistic Missile systems. The Iranian missiles could not be stopped by the US THAAD missile defense. See this.
Other dramatic headlines point to “All of Israel is under fire!” Blasts and smoke as Iran launches hundreds of missiles | ITV NEWS, as“Iran launched hundreds of missiles towards Israel; only few were intercepted.” Question: Does Iran have enough missiles and rockets to overwhelm and outlast Israel? The next 72 hours will be crucial.
Iranian missiles have hit key locations in Tel Aviv and other major cities in Israel, also targeting Israeli nuclear arsenal and military sites, leaving untold casualties and massive destruction of infrastructure. To what extent Israel’s nuclear stockpiles were affected, may never be known.
President Putin, while supporting Iran’s defense, has called on both parties to instantly stop aggressions.
He offered Russia’s good services for mediation. Once upon a time, when Switzerland was still neutral, Bern could have offered Switzerland’s diplomacy to mediate for Peace. No longer, as Switzerland drifts towards NATO, an enemy of Iran – and everything not considered the west.
Mr. Putin most likely warned President Trump to make sure Israel does not retaliate Iran’s response with nuclear weapons. If not Trump, then his Pentagon advisors, must know and understand what this means.
At the behest of Israel, Trump had started negotiations with Iran to reduce their enrichment program to zero, i.e. destroy their enriched uranium which Iran planned to use for civilian purposes. He warned or blackmailed Iran – you agree, or else – which meant you will be assaulted. He gave Iran five days to respond, but Israel launched her attack after day three, certainly not without Trump’s agreement, which meant a flagrant betrayal by the US on Iran and the world.
President Trump entered his second term on 20 January 2025 as a so-called “Peace President,” but resulted instead as a war-President; as one of the biggest deceptions not only for US citizens, but for the world at large.
Instead of making good on his promise, stopping the horrendous bloodshed and genocide caused by Israel in Gaza and now also in the West Bank, Lebanon, and Syria, Trump supports Netanyahu with more weapons to continue his ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza and in all of Palestine.
In the proxy war Ukraine-Russia, Trump is far from reaching an agreement. After this unprecedented US-supported assault by Israel on Iran – a Peace Agreement with Russia has slipped away farther than ever.
Israel also targeted military facilities in Teheran, as well as throughout Iran, killing what is reported dozens high-ranking military officers, including Iran’s top two commanders.
Iran confirmed that the attacks killed Major General Hossein Salami, commander of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and Major General Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, along with several nuclear scientists. Iran’s envoy to the UN, Amir-Saeid Iravani, stated that 78 people were killed and 320 others injured.
This totally illegal, devastating large-scale attack pushed the Middle East into a new war, if not into a deep abyss. Images on Iranian state television said the Natanz site in central Iran, one of the country’s two main nuclear [energy] plants, was struck around 4.15 AM on Thursday, 13 June.
On the other hand, President Putin (RT – 13 June 25) holds phone conversations with Israeli’s PM and the Iranian President. Mr. Putin condemned the Israeli attack and extended his condolences to Iran, according to the Kremlin press service.
Some of Iran’s nuclear facilities are 800-plus meters below the ground and cannot be reached by Israel’s missiles. It is not clear how much of Iran’s nuclear energy program has been destroyed. It may never be known.
Trump’s green-lighting Israel’s attack, makes him complicit in this new Israel-initiated Middle East conflict, that might possibly degenerate into a WWIII scenario.
The Financial Times (FT – 13 June 2025) reports that President Trump warned Teheran on his Truth Social Platform, that the next “already planned attacks” on Iran would be “even more brutal,” adding that “Iran must make a deal [on its nuclear program], before there is nothing left.” “No more death, no more destruction, JUST DO IT, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE,” he wrote. Yes, the deal-maker has spoken again.
Trump added that the US “makes the best and most lethal military equipment anywhere in the World, BY FAR, and that Israel has a lot of it, with much more to come — and they know how to use it.” The usual megalo-ego-centric rhetoric which is typically not substantiated, and ever less believable, but ever more provoking a sad smile.
Mr. Trump’s notion of negotiations refers to the recent US-imposed reduction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment program to zero, when in earlier accords – the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) negotiated in 2013 to 2015 with the US Obama Administration and their western allies plus China and Russia, Iran was allowed to enrich uranium to no more than 5%. For 15 years, Iran agreed to enrich uranium only up to 3.67% and not to build heavy water facilities. They complied with the 15-year condition.
Nevertheless, the Israeli Air Force barrage on Iran follows a months-long stand-off over Iran’s nuclear program. Tehran insists and has always done so, its nuclear program is for peaceful civilian purposes, mostly nuclear energy. The UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is closely following Iran’s nuclear program and has never found any evidence that Iran was attempting to build an atomic bomb.
Please NOTE and be reminded that Israel has hundreds of nuclear warheads, outside of the Non-Proliferation Agreement, tolerated by the west, led by the US of A.
The IAEA, like most UN agencies, is following politically the “mandate” of the west. So, it does perhaps not come as a surprise that on Thursday, 12 June, the day before the Israeli attack on Iran, the agency declared that Iran was in breach of its non-proliferation obligations, the first such censure in two decades. It may have been the ultimate justification for Israel’s devastating air raid.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said,
Israel “Should expect a severe punishment. The Zionist regime, through this crime, has created a bitter and painful fate for itself — one it will certainly face,” he said. “With God’s permission, the powerful hands of the Islamic republic’s armed forces will not leave it unpunished.”
This new Middle Eastern war is in a constant state of change, possibly escalating and putting the world in danger, once more the works of the Zionist elite, attempting to control the globe, and achieving Greater Israel which would ideally expand their current map to also include Iran.
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Peace in the Middle East or better Western Asia would be a great step towards world Peace – an engine for socioeconomic prosperity.
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Peter Koenigis a geopolitical analyst, regular author for Global Research, and a former Economist at the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO), where he worked for over 30 years around the world. He is the author of Implosion – An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed; and co-author of Cynthia McKinney’s book “When China Sneezes: From the Coronavirus Lockdown to the Global Politico-Economic Crisis” (Clarity Press – November 1, 2020).
Peter is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG). He is also a non-resident Senior Fellow of the Chongyang Institute of Renmin University, Beijing.
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Russia, China and many European nations have asked their citizens to leave Israel and Tehran ASAP! Yesterday President Trump said everyone should evacuate Tehran, a city with over 16 million people! Add to that the EAM (Emergency Action Messages) that were sent out over the weekend. These were extremely long EAM’s, one was 246 characters while another was 290 charactors. They were considered “unprecedented” as they’re usually only 30 characters long.
Something HUGE is coming and it could be nuclear, thermobaric or something worse. Prayed up and prepped up, time is short!
“IRAN IS NOT BUILDING A NUCLEAR WEAPON AND SUPREME LEADER KHAMENEI HAS NOT AUTHORIZED THE NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM THAT HE SUSPENDED IN 2003” – DNI TULSI GABBARD, MAR 25, 2025
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The lessons from Trump’s Yemeni debacle could inform his future decisions on Ukraine.
Five New York Times (NYT) journalists collaborated to produce a detailed report earlier this week about “Why Trump Suddenly Declared Victory Over the Houthi Militia”. It’s worth reading in full if time permits, but the present piece will summarize and analyze its findings. To begin with, CENTCOM chief General Michael Kurilla proposed an eight- to -10-month campaign for degrading the Houthis’ air defenses before carrying out Israeli-like targeted assassinations, but Trump decided on 30 days instead. That’s important.
The US’ top regional military official already knew how numerous the Houthis’ air defenses were and how long it would take to seriously damage them, which shows that the Pentagon already considered Houthi-controlled North Yemen to be a regional power, while Trump wanted to avoid a protracted war. It’s little wonder then that the US failed to establish air superiority during the first month, which is why it lost several MQ-9 Reaper drones by then and exposed one of its aircraft carriers to continued threats.
The $1 billion in munitions that were expended during that period widened preexisting divisions within the administration over whether this bombing campaign was worth the mounting costs. New Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General John Caine was concerned that this could drain resources away from the Asia-Pacific. Seeing as how the Trump Administration’s grand strategic goal is to “Pivot (back) to Asia” for more muscularly containing China, this viewpoint was likely decisive in Trump’s final calculations.
Oman reportedly provided the “perfect offramp” for him by proposing to his envoy Steve Witkoff, who was visiting them as part of the US’ nuclear talks with Iran, that the US could stop bombing the Houthis while they’ll stop targeting American ships but not ships that they deem helpful to Israel. This draws attention to that country’s outsized diplomatic role in regional affairs, but it also shows that the US was hitherto unsure of how to end its campaign in a face-saving way despite already realizing that it failed.
Two pathways were considered: ramping up operations for another month, carrying out a “freedom of navigation” exercise, and declaring victory if the Houthis didn’t fire on them; or continuing the campaign while strengthening the capacity of local Yemeni allies to start another offensive in the North. Both were reportedly scrapped in favor of Trump’s sudden victory announcement after another US jet fell off of an aircraft carrier, a US attack killed dozens of migrants in Yemen, and the Houthis hit Ben Gurion Airport.
Five conclusions can be drawn from the NYT’s report. For starters, Houthi-controlled North Yemen is already a regional power and has been so for some time, the status of which they achieved despite the Gulf coalition’s previous years-long bombing campaign and ongoing partial blockade. This impressive feat speaks to their resilience and the effectiveness of the strategies that they’ve implemented. North Yemen’s mountainous geography indisputably played a role in this, but it wasn’t the sole factor.
The second conclusion is that Trump’s decision to authorize a very time-limited bombing campaign was therefore doomed from the get-go. He either wasn’t fully informed of the fact that North Yemen had already become a regional power, perhaps due to military officials self-censoring for fear of getting fired if they upset him, or he had ulterior motives in having the US bomb them for only a brief time. In any case, there was no way that the Houthis were going to be destroyed in just several months’ time.
Optics are important for every administration, and Trump’s second one prioritizes them more than any other in recent memory, yet the third conclusion is that he still beat a hasty retreat once the strategic risks started spiraling and the costs began piling up instead of doubling down in defiance. This shows that ego- and legacy-related interests don’t always determine his policy formulations. Its relevance is that no one can therefore say for sure that he won’t cut and run from Ukraine if peace talks collapse.
Building upon the above, the Trump Administration’s acceptance of Oman’s unsolicited proposal that led to the “perfect offramp” shows that it’ll listen to proposals from friendly countries for defusing conflicts in which the US has become embroiled, which could apply towards Ukraine. The three Gulf states that Trump is visiting this week have all played roles in either hosting talks or facilitating exchanges between Russia and Ukraine so it’s possible that they’ll share some peace proposals for breaking the impasse.
And finally, the China factor looms over everything that the US does nowadays, ergo one of the reported reasons why Trump suddenly ended his unsuccessful bombing campaign against the Houthis after being informed by his top brass that it was wasting valuable munitions that would be better sent to Asia. Likewise, Trump might be convinced by similar arguments with regard to the strategic costs of defiantly doubling down in support of Ukraine if peace talks collapse, which the Gulf states might convey to him.
Connecting the lessons from Trump’s Yemeni debacle with his ongoing efforts to end the Ukrainian Conflict, it’s possible that he might at first instinctively double down in support of Ukraine if peace talks collapse only to soon thereafter be dissuaded by his top brass and/or friendly countries. Of course, it would be best for him to simply cut his country’s losses now instead of continuing to add to them, but his increasingly emotional posts about Putin hint that he might blame him and overreact if talks collapse.
It’s therefore more important than ever that peace-loving countries which have influence with the US immediately share whatever creative diplomatic proposals they might have in mind for breaking the impasse between Russia and Ukraine. Trump is creeping towards a Yemeni-like debacle in Ukraine, albeit one with potentially nuclear stakes given Russia’s strategic arsenal, but there’s still time to avert it if the “perfect offramp” appears and he’s convinced that accepting it would assist his “Pivot (back) to Asia”.
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A newly leaked internal CCP directive—circulated in top-secret briefings—suggests something far more serious is unfolding behind the scenes. While headlines focus on tit-for-tat tariffs and diplomatic posturing, this document reveals a dramatic shift in Beijing’s internal thinking: a confrontation that spans economics, geopolitics, and even military readiness.
In today’s video, we dive into what this shift means—not only for China and the U.S., but for the global balance of power. Why are CCP officials being told to pull their foreign assets? What’s behind the sudden focus on Taiwan, financial warfare, and building alliances with America’s rivals? This isn’t a prediction. It’s a signal—and those who understand it will see what’s coming next.
Johnny’s Note: Guys this is what I’ve been saying since the beginning of the so called trade war between the US and China. This is just the beginning and as you can see China intends to take this to the next level which is actual war beginning with the financial markets. If China dumps a trillion dollars in US treasuries and convinces other Asian nations to do the same the markets in the US would collapse. In my humble opinion this will escalate quickly and it will do so this year!
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