The Transformation of the United States’ Economic Position in the New Architecture of the Global Economy: The Role of BRICS and the Leading Economies of North Africa

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Department of Economic Studies, Center for African Studies, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Geopolitics, Center for African Studies, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Despite the expansion of studies on the relative decline of the economic power of the United States and the rise of emerging powers, no comprehensive assessment has yet been offered of the simultaneous role of the BRICS coalition and the leading economies of North Africa in altering the balance of international economic power. This article examines the active role of the BRICS member states and the key economies of North Africa (Algeria, Egypt, and Morocco) in shaping the emergence of a new global economic order. Accordingly, the main question is whether this coalition possesses the necessary capacity to effectively reconfigure the global balance of power and reduce the international system’s financial dependence on the United States. Relying on the theoretical framework of structural power and the hegemonic transition approach, and through the analysis of statistical data from institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Organization, the article depicts the occurrence of a major shift in the balance of power. Based on this research, which has been conducted through documentary study and a descriptive-analytical approach, the share of the United States in global production has declined over six decades from approximately 40 percent to 27 percent, while the combined share of BRICS and North Africa has increased from 17 percent to more than 31 percent. Cases such as Egypt, Algeria, and Morocco, drawing on their energy resources, geopolitical position, and strategic relations with China, India, and Russia, are becoming regional poles of economic power. As a result, the future global economy will be built not on the hegemony of single states, but on the collective synergy of emerging markets, in which the BRICS–North Africa axis will play a facilitating and pivotal role.

Keywords

References

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American Strategic Studies
Volume 6, Issue 1 - Serial Number 1
Serial number 21 - Spring 2026
July 2026

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History

  • Receive Date: 13 September 2025
  • Revise Date: 03 July 2026
  • Accept Date: 13 July 2026
  • Publish Date: 22 June 2026

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