History Cooperation of Russia-China Friendship Societies in the BRICS Format: People’s Diplomacy and Inter-Civilizational Dialogue

In the context of the transformation of global governance in the 21st century, two seemingly parallel historical trajectories of the friendship society and the BRICS cooperation mechanism have deeply intersected. This in-tersection is not only the active work of the two largest countries in building a new type of international relations, but also an innovative form of participation of non–state actors in the inter-civilizational dialogue. Today, the BRICS association, as a form of intergovernmental cooperation, is faced with the dilemma of cultural interac-tion, lack of mutual trust and other limitations of cooperation between governments. In this regard, there is an urgent need to revive friendship societies for meaningful public dialogue. This article analyzes the meaningful public dialogue between the Chinese and Russian friendship societies within the framework of the BRICS in order to reveal the unique role of people’s diplomacy in promoting the principle of multilateralism, global gov-ernance reform and the promotion of inter-civilizational dialogue.