BRICS leaders urge global financial system reform, but does it avoid the Thucydides Trap?

With the push towards global financial reform and de-dollarisation, the question is: can China, BRICS and the Delhi Declaration avert an energy-driven Thucydides Trap?

Mark Swilling is a Professor at the Centre for Sustainability Transitions at Stellenbosch University.

In his opening remarks at the China-US Beijing Summit in May 2026, President Xi Jinping proposed that China and the US can – and should – avoid the “Thucydides Trap”. This was a shrewd reference (which was reportedly lost on Donald Trump) to the account by Thucydides of the Peloponnesian War (432-404 BCE) when the once great city of Sparta was challenged by Athens – a more advanced rising power. For Thucydides, this made war inevitable. For Xi, of course, China is the new Athens but war with the US is not an option.

The 18th BRICS Summit took place in Delhi on 12 September 2026. India, host and holder of the current BRICS presidency, selected the 2026 theme Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability. What is now an 11-member Global South coalition (with nine partners), BRICS+ issued the Delhi Declaration on Saturday after prolonged negotiations over the wording stretched into the early hours of Saturday. It has a decidedly Thucydian ring to it.

Given the prominence of rising geopolitical conflicts, the Indian press has unsurprisingly focused attention on India’s successful diplomatic efforts to reconcile key differences: Iran wanted the declaration to condemn the US for its illegal war (which was avoided), while the United Arab Emirates wanted Iran sanctioned for attacking the Gulf states (also avoided); Russia wanted to make sure that no wording could imply criticism of its war with Ukraine (done), and China wanted to strengthen references to the role of BRICS in global economic governance (also done). While there are explicit references to the dysfunctional impact of tariffs on global trade, respect for national sovereignty, peaceful resolution of conflict and the ongoing violence in Gaza, Trump is not referred to by name (nor is genocide, despite the South African position on this issue at the International Court of Justice).

What the Indian and international press reports miss, however, is something far more important than semantic compromises to keep the peace. There are several paragraphs devoted to calls for reform of the global financial system that are decidedly more explicit than previous statements. Reflecting Chinese influence but supported by South Africa and the BRICS Task Force on Growth and Development models initiated by the Indian presidency, paragraph 17 states:

“With the growing share of EMDEs (Emerging Markets and Developing Economies), in global output and growth, reform of global economic governance remains a consistent BRICS priority. We will continue to strengthen coordination among BRICS members to make international financial institutions more representative, transparent and accountable. We reiterate the urgent need to reform the Bretton Woods Institutions (BWI) to make them more agile, effective, credible, inclusive, fit for purpose, unbiased, accountable, and representative, to enhance their legitimacy.