By Sameh Selim: The Suez Canal is a difficult equation for the BRICS group

Sameh Selim

The Suez Canal is a difficult equation for the BRICS group.

By Sameh Selim, a member of United Press International

The BRICS group is a coalition driven by economic, strategic, commercial, and developmental objectives rather than military alliances. This is due to the divergent goals and visions of its member countries and the significant political and military disparities among them. As previously discussed, the group's primary focus is on economic cooperation, often in the form of bilateral or tripartite agreements, to address urgent and shared economic challenges.

The unification of the group's countries on one economic word, despite their different political goals, is the Suez Canal and its economic axis. It is the secret word in unifying the economic and commercial strategic goals of the politically different countries due to its unique geographical location and the fact that it is the lifeline of the fastest, safest, and least expensive global trade. Even though some of the group's countries have reached not only differences but also the level of hostility and competition sometimes, such as the two neighbors, China and India, each of which has investments in the Suez Canal region. There are also European, American, and Arab investments from outside the BRICS because this region is distinguished by being an international shipping lane to which the rules of international law apply in managing international shipping lanes, with the presence of full Egyptian sovereignty in implementing international agreements. 

We also found a Russian industrial zone and logistics area with Arab and foreign investments in the ports overlooking it and the three canal cities that fall within its scope: Suez, Ismailia, and Port Said. Here, the Suez Canal, with its unique strategic location, plays an important political role that the great powers or international organizations, headed by the United Nations, cannot play in establishing world peace and economic stability and protecting common interests, and for Egypt to be a meeting point for all countries of the world.