As NATO Grows, China and Russia Seek to Bring Iran, Saudi Arabia Into Fold

ALEXEI DRUZHININ/MEGHDAD MADADI/ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO/SPUTNIK/ATP IMAGES/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

As NATO Grows, China and Russia Seek to Bring Iran, Saudi Arabia Into Fold

NEWSWEEK- BY TOM O’CONNOR ON 7/1/22 AT 1:37 PM EDT

Finland and Sweden’s green light to join NATO is set to bring about the U.S.-led Western military alliance’s largest expansion in decades. Meanwhile, the G7, consisting of NATO states and fellow U.S. ally Japan, has adopted a tougher line against Russia and China.

In the East, however, security and economy-focused blocs led by Beijing and Moscow are looking to take on new members of their own, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, two influential Middle Eastern rivals whose interest in shoring up cooperation on this new front could have a significant impact on global geopolitical balance.

The two bodies in question are the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and BRICS. The former was established in 2001 as a six-member political, economic and military coalition including China, Russia and the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan before recruiting South Asian nemeses India and Pakistan in 2017, while the latter is a grouping of emerging economic powers originally consisting of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) upon its inception 2006, and including South Africa in 2010.

“The BRICS and the SCO share one important ideological quality: they are both focused on multipolarity, and their summits have even been held back to back with one another at times,” Matthew Neapole, an international affairs expert and contributor to the Macdonald-Laurier Institute in Canada, told Newsweek.

“Both are angling to act as force multipliers for this drive for multipolarity, to help along with alternatives [i.e, in currency or banking],” he added. “It could, in theory, facilitate economic linkages and step into gaps that U.S. institutions are not filling due to sanctions, such as those laid on Russia.”

Iran, already an SCO observer, began its formal membership ascension process amid the latest leaders’ summit in September. On Monday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced the Islamic Republic would also seek to join BRICS.

Across the Persian Gulf, Saudi Arabia has also reportedly considered applying for BRICS membership, as revealed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during his visit to the kingdom in late May. The announcement followed Saudi Arabia joining Argentina, Egypt, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Senegal, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates at China’s invitation for a “BRICS+” discussion, after which Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin announced members had “reached consensus on the BRICS expansion process.”

Of these candidates, Argentina has already applied for membership, potentially advancing the group’s status toward being a major player in international economic relations. And with the SCO seeking to grow as well, Beijing and Moscow might be poised to advance their effort to sway the international influence equilibrium toward a broader group of countries that do not necessarily sign on to an explicitly U.S.-led international order.