BRICS adopts joint declaration calling for 'maximum restraint' in Middle East

In the ancient city of India, a coalition of nations spanning continents and competing interests gathered beneath the BRICS banner to speak with one voice on the Middle East's deepening wounds. The declaration they adopted—calling for maximum restraint—was less a policy instrument than a philosophical statement: that the world's emerging powers believe they have both the standing and the obligation to offer an alternative to Western-led crisis management. At a moment when old frameworks of mediation are losing their grip, this gathering asked a question that will define the coming decades—who