Collaborative Diplomacy : a study of the BRICS New Development Bank

Abstract

Relative to mainstream diplomacy, collaborative diplomacy is a form of diplomacy that does not yet have a fixed definition. Scholars have over the years distinguished different approaches to this concept. The concept is constantly changing as it adapts to new challenges in the diplomatic arena of the twenty-first century. The evolutionary changes in the practice of diplomacy will be investigated with a case study focussed on collaborative diplomacy in BRICS and in particular, on the diplomatic practices which enabled the establishment of the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB). As a multilateral partnership of developing countries, BRICS has had to establish an identity that is, to an extent, different from that of the West. Therefore, the NDB was established in 2014 during the sixth BRICS Summit in Fortaleza and became operational in 2016. This was a way for BRICS to demonstrate its ability to contribute to global economic governance and to prioritise the provision of resources for development projects in emerging and developing countries. Through collaborative diplomacy, BRICS members succeeded to create a new empirical reality and to challenge the dominance of the Global North in the global system. The countries of BRICS have been working together to establish the group’s development bank. One of the challenges of collaborative diplomacy is that it has not been given sufficient attention. Through a case study design of the BRICS NDB, the purpose of this study is to investigate collaborative diplomacy as a phenomenon and determine how it has contributed to the existence of the BRICS New Development Bank when employed by the individual member-states in the partnership with shared interests.