The Paradox of Freedom: BRICS+ and the Limits of De-Dollarization

BRICS+ seeks to escape the dollar’s gravity but freedom has its own price.

He global economy still moves to the rhythm of the United States dollar. Prices, debt, and trade all depend on it, giving Washington an invisible hand in almost every transaction on earth. BRICS+ coalition of rising economies has promised to loosen that grip. Several BRICS+ leaders have spoken about

Building a more balanced global system, one that allows nations to grow without depending on a single currency’s fate. Yet there’s a quiet irony behind that vision the bloc hopes to move beyond the dollar while still operating within the structure the dollar created.

Delegates from countries such as Indonesia and South Africa acknowledged that breaking away sounds easier than it is. Their trade routes, credit ratings, and foreign investments remain tied to dollar flows. A sudden divorce could rattle fragile economies and scare off the investors they still depend on. The will to change exists, but the path toward independence is paved with the very dollars they wish to escape.

China’s efforts to expand the new development bank and promote settlements in yuan show real intent, but also real limits. Investors remain wary of Beijing’s tight controls and opaque data. The yuan may slowly gain ground, but trust is not something that can be declared into existence. The confidence that surrounds the dollar was built over decades, not promises or policy shifts. At the recent brics+ session, enthusiasm met reality. Delegates were eager to talk about sovereignty and balance, yet their tone revealed hesitation. Everyone knew that the dollar’s influence runs deeper than trade it shapes credit systems, investor confidence, and even political leverage. A club built on different fears risks having no shared vision.

Western observers, especially in Europe, view this movement with both curiosity and concern. To some, BRICS+ offers a chance to correct an economic system that has grown too concentrated in one direction. Others, however, worry that it might fracture global finance even further. For nations such as Russia and Iran, joining the bloc is driven less by shared ambition than by the need to survive an attempt to find breathing room beyond western sanctions. Across Europe, and especially in france, reactions have been cautious rather than confrontational. Observers recognize that the world needs balance, not another monopoly in disguise. Creating an alternative framework is one thing; keeping it inclusive is another. For France, the real question isn’t about BRICS+ existing, but whether it can design a system that supports rather than splits the global market. Swapping one dominant power for another won’t ensure stability fairness grows from cooperation, not control.

In the end, the success of de dollarization will depend on whether BRICS+ can build bridges instead of boundaries. And within that struggle lies its deepest irony the pursuit of freedom that still depends on connection. BRICS+ seeks liberation but cannot achieve it by isolation. To write a new chapter in global finance, its members must first learn to share the pen each line written not in defiance of the past, but in preparation for a fairer balance of power.