Axis of Upheaval: BRICS, Belief, and the Battle for Global Influence

From Southeast Asia to the Middle East, ideological fundamentalism and strategic realignments are redrawing the geopolitical map – leaving the West scrambling to retain control.

Image was created using Wonder Digital Arts.

The world is shifting. Not slowly, but with seismic jolts. The BRICS bloc initiated as an economic grouping has transformed into a major geopolitical power that has extended its influence throughout Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

Modern global alliances receive substantial influence from ideological fundamentalism which forms through rigid religious and political beliefs. Traditional values benefit from ideological fundamentalism when they exist against Western liberal challenges thus enabling counter-hegemonic movements to flourish. The economic coalition named BRICS now receives strategic nations that oppose the Western-led framework because its liberal values conflict with their religious and moral beliefs. Through its support of multipolar political beliefs the BRICS formation establishes an alternative governance model which enables ideological fundamentalist movements to coexist alongside national government priorities within countries which link identity to governing structures like the Middle East…