The term "Great Reset" has gained significant traction in global economic and political circles, representing a potential transformation in how economies function and interact. Meanwhile, the BRICS alliance has positioned itself as a counterbalance to Western financial dominance. Together, these developments signal profound changes that could reshape the global economic landscape for decades to come
Wednesday, September 17, 2025
By John Zadeh
The Great Reset and BRICS Nations: Reshaping the Global Economic Order
The term "Great Reset" has gained significant traction in global economic and political circles, representing a potential transformation in how economies function and interact. Meanwhile, the BRICS alliance has positioned itself as a counterbalance to Western financial dominance. Together, these developments signal profound changes that could reshape the global economic landscape for decades to come.
Understanding the Great Reset Concept
The Great Reset was originally introduced by the World Economic Forum as a proposed economic transformation following major global disruptions. This concept envisions restructuring economies to address wealth inequality, climate change, and technological disruption. In practice, it represents a potential reshaping of the global economic order through monetary policy changes, digital transformation, and shifts in international power dynamics.
The reset concept has evolved from theoretical discussions to practical implementations across various sectors. Central banks worldwide are reconsidering traditional monetary policies, while governments are exploring new approaches to economic management, particularly following global disruptions like the pandemic.
"Gold is becoming central to a new system, call it the skeletal system of a new monetary order, whether it be in the BRICS or whether it be in the United States." - Andy Scheckman, Miles Franklin Precious Metals
BRICS Alliance: A Counterbalance to Western Economic Dominance
The BRICS alliance-originally Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa-has expanded to include additional nations, creating a formidable economic bloc. This coalition represents a significant portion of the world's population, natural resources, and economic activity.
BRICS nations have been actively developing financial infrastructure and cooperation mechanisms that operate independently from Western-dominated systems. Their efforts include establishing alternative payment networks, developing new reserve currency arrangements, and increasing bilateral trade agreements denominated in local currencies rather than U.S. dollars.
The alliance's strategic importance lies in its collective economic weight: the expanded BRICS framework encompasses countries that together represent a substantial portion of global GDP, manufacturing capacity, and natural resource reserves. This provides them with significant leverage in reshaping global economic relations.
How Are BRICS Nations Challenging Dollar Dominance?
One of the most consequential developments in the global financial system is the systematic effort by BRICS nations to reduce reliance on the U.S. dollar. This multi-pronged strategy includes creating alternative payment infrastructures, increasing gold price highs analysis, and developing new settlement mechanisms.
Development of Alternative Payment Systems
BRICS nations have made significant progress in developing alternative cross-border payment systems that operate independently from SWIFT, the Western-dominated international payment network. These systems offer several notable advantages:
- Settlement times of approximately 7 seconds (compared to 3-5 days through traditional dollar-based channels)
- Fee reductions of up to 98% for cross-border transactions
- Direct currency exchanges without first converting to dollars
- Freedom from potential Western sanctions or interventions
These technological advancements represent a fundamental shift in how international trade can be conducted, potentially bypassing traditional Western financial intermediaries altogether.
BRICSBridge: The New Cross-Border Payment Infrastructure
The BRICSBridge payment system (previously known as the M-Bridge technology) represents a significant advancement in BRICS financial infrastructure. This system connects central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) across participating nations, creating a network that can function independently of Western financial infrastructure.
According to recent statements from BRICS representatives, the system has already:
- Integrated 11 Asian countries and 5 Middle Eastern countries
- Encompassed approximately 38% of global GDP through its current participants
- Created a framework that could potentially expand to include Belt and Road Initiative countries, which would cover roughly 75% of the world's population and 50% of global GDP
The technical capabilities of this system are impressive, allowing near-instant settlement of cross-border transactions at a fraction of the cost of traditional systems. This represents a quantum leap in payment technology that could significantly alter global trade patterns.
The Role of Gold in BRICS Financial Strategy
Gold appears to be central to BRICS' financial strategy, serving as a backbone for a potential new monetary system. Key developments include:
- Expansion of the Shanghai Gold Exchange into multi-jurisdictional vaults across Belt and Road countries, beginning with Hong Kong
- Development of a settlement system that would allow trade in local currencies with imbalances settled in gold
- Immediate convertibility of the Chinese yuan into gold without first converting to dollars
- Creation of a distributed network of gold vaults across multiple jurisdictions to mitigate geopolitical risks
Former Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff, now heading the BRICS Development Bank, has reportedly indicated agreement "in principle to a new settlement system called the unit... it is a digital representation of a basket of 60% BRICS-plus currencies and 40% gold deliverable upon request."
This gold-centric approach represents a return to more tangible backing for international trade, potentially addressing concerns about the stability of purely fiat currency systems. Is a New World Order Emerging in Global Finance? The combined effects of BRICS initiatives, changing trade patterns, and shifts in central bank behavior suggest that a significant transformation in global finance may be underway. These changes could fundamentally alter how international trade and finance operate.
The Decline of Dollar-Based Trade
Recent data points to meaningful shifts in global trade patterns that could signal the beginning of a new economic order:
- China's trade with the United States has reportedly fallen to its lowest level in over 20 years, now representing less than 6% of China's total trade as of May
- Asian countries connected to the new BRICS payment infrastructure have become China's largest trading partners, surpassing both the EU and the United States
- Many countries are increasingly conducting trade in local currencies rather than dollars
- The Belt and Road Initiative has created economic interdependencies that operate partially outside the dollar system
These trends suggest a gradual but meaningful decoupling from dollar-centric trade, particularly among countries that have integrated with BRICS financial infrastructure.
Further Exploration
The relationship between the Great Reset concept and BRICS nations continues to evolve, with significant implications for the global economic order. As these developments unfold, they will likely reshape international trade, monetary policy, and investment strategies in profound ways.
Understanding these shifts requires monitoring developments across multiple domains: central bank policies, international trade patterns, commodity markets, and geopolitical alignments. The coming years may prove pivotal in determining whether the post-WWII financial architecture undergoes fundamental transformation or merely incremental change. Many analysts continue to update their gold price forecast 2025 as these changes unfold.
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