The "Security-Development" Concept in the BRICS Activities

The aim of the article is to identify the main approaches of BRICS to the interpretation of the "security-development nexus" based on the analysis of the organization's final documents following the results of the nine summits (from 2009 to 2017). The main objectives of the research are: (1) to examine the "security-development" concept in the international relations; (2) to analyze the problems of the BRICS summits, evaluate the dynamics of changes in the agenda; (3) to identify the role of the security-development nexus connection, as well as the concepts of security and development in the BRICS activities based on the analysis of their references in the final documents for nine years (2009-2017). The article presents a research devoted to the analysis of the use of the security-development nexus in the BRICS activities. This nexus has been actively mentioned in the international political discourse since the 2000s, causing numerous debates among the academic community around the world. The process of a theoretical comprehension of this concept is of special interest and is related to the "developmentalization of security" and "securitization of development". Special issues of such authoritative journals as Third World Quarterly and Security Dialogue are devoted to the security-development nexus. The urgency of the analysis is determined by three factors: (1) the growing role of regional and interregional organizations in addressing security and development issues; (2) the lack of research on this topic in the Russian science; (3) the need to improve joint approaches and develop mechanisms for responding to a wide range of global and national threats, which become interdependent, within the framework of the security-development context. With the initial focus on development, BRICS has come to an institutionalized approach to security, which is a vivid example of the implementation of the combination of security and development not only in theory in the form of a nexus, but also in practice. The analysis shows not only the evolution of the BRICS approaches to this problem, but also reflects aspects of security and development that BRICS needs to further develop in order to strengthen its positions in global politics and economics and to coordinate the organization's targeted programs to achieve optimal results. BRICS needs to strengthen the research on the preventive measures to predict global conflicts and to pay more attention to the implementation of projects under the "security-development" concept, which will enhance interstate cooperation and achieve sustainable peace in the regions of influence.