South Africa should focus on its position in the India, Brazil, South Africa (Ibsa) trading bloc, but it was also imperative to strengthen bilateral relations with the Brazil, Russia, India and China (Bric) grouping in order to strengthen its position globally, as well as consolidate its position as the economically dominant power on the African continent.

A discussion held by the Institute for Global Dialogue (IGD) and the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) on Wednesday, attempted to analyse the position of South Africa in relation to its exclusion from Bric, as well as potential strategies and challenges for the future.

Changes in the Balance of Power

The end of the Cold War led to a realignment in global politics, with a specific shift away from the traditional balance of power in the form of a West-East axis, to a greater emphasis and emergence of economies that began to challenge the economic trading norms.

Countries like China, India and Brazil gained prominence in global trading circles through an emphasis on providing products and services at competitive trading prices. Further, the expansion of free-trade agreements with like-minded countries meant that these emerging economies had gained competitive advantage over the traditional trading powers such as European Union countries and the US. The trading power of the emerging powers is emphasised through their recent capturing of the 60% majority of global trade output.

The prominence of the emerging powers are realised through trade agreements or "clubs" such as Ibsa, Basic (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) and more recently, Bric. The exclusion of South Africa from the Bric quartet, had lead to a feeling of self-doubt for the African country and an "inferiority complex".

The Current Position of SA

Addressing the forum, Dirco deputy director-general for Asia and the Middle East ambassador Sisa Ngombane, provided the context to South Africa's current precarious position with regard to the emergence of the trading blocs. He emphasised the changes in the global balance of power and the greater power that emerging countries had to express themselves as prominent political and economic actors.

Secondly, he described the emergence of Ibsa as a geostrategic power along the line of South-South cooperation. Finally, Ngombane addressed the issue of the formation of Bric and what this meant for South Africa.

Although the Bric quartet comprised the four-biggest emerging economies, South Africa felt left out as it believed that it carried the interests of the African continent and its strategic power was wavering with the formation of the mega economy bloc.

Strategic National Interests

IGD research associate for emerging powers Francis Kornegay outlined South Africa's strategic national interests and how they should be defined in the current circumstances. He argued that South Africa should focus on what was obtainable by focusing on reinforcing and consolidating the importance of Ibsa as an important anchor for South-South cooperation, as opposed to focusing on Bric which was more of an icon of high politics that represented economic reform on a global stage.

Kornegay said that Ibsa provided a base that better suited South African national interests with the growing economic importance of the South and had a more solid framework to facilitate trade and economic development. Further, South Africa had no right to be part of Bric given the size of its economy compared with that of the Bric members.

He further argued that South Africa needed to consolidate its position as a regional power in Africa and re-establish itself as a hegemony in order to reinforce its position as a strategic trading partner on the continent.

Foreign Policy and Diplomacy

South African Institute of International Affairs emerging powers programme head Dr Mzukisi Qobo argued that South Africa needed to clearly define its foreign policy framework goals, which needed to be grounded in the country's national prosperity. These goals should be focused through the Ibsa framework, which provided greater strategic value for the country as opposed to strategies through Bric.

Instead, engagement with the Bric countries should be pursued through bilateral relations. In this way South Africa would not be excluded from the process, but would avoid the political issues of being associated with a movement aimed at reducing traditional Western economic trading dominance.

The final speaker, Department of Trade and Industry's International Trade and Economic Development research and policy head Dr Brendan Vickers, argued that diplomacy on the global stage was moving towards an agenda that was dominated by issues of food security, energy security and climate change. Countries with similar interests, such as Bric and Ibsa nations, would cooperate more on these issues and reinforce their interests as lobby groups within the Group of 20.

He echoed the views of Qobo, by arguing that South Africa needed an interdepartmental framework in the decision-making process when formulating foreign policy that included all relevant interest groups and stakeholders.