BRICS countries have experience dealing with diversity; they are not trying to dominate other cultures, Dr. Philani Mthembu, Executive Director at the South African Institute for Global Dialogue, told Sputnik Africa.
"In a multipolar world, you cannot have one culture dominating others. [...] We [BRICS nations] are not trying to influence the other countries to become like any other of the BRICS countries. So we accept your history; we accept your diversity; but we say we are united in our diversity," he said.
Unlike BRICS, Western countries "are struggling with diversity" as "they have been trying to basically make people from different cultures to become more like them," he said on the sidelines of #SPIEF2024.
"There is another generation, even within the West, that realizes that such approaches are not sustainable. However, they have not been able to make their thinking into the mainstream within Western political circles. [...] It's something that is going to take a little bit of time," Mthembu added.
The expert also stressed that BRICS has "never claimed to be an anti-Western organization." According to him, "Western countries should not look at a multipolar world order as threatening."
The BRICS Expert Forum "The Role of the BRICS in the Search for a New World Order" is being held at SPIEF on June 6, with sessions organized by the Rossiya Segodnya media group, parent agency to Sputnik, and Xinhua news agency.