The recently held 15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, drew significant global attention as the grouping expanded itself by inducting six new members — Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia.
While the current member states — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — hailed the move and supporters called the step “historic,” some sceptics denounced the move as a futile exercise, and others characterised it as the death knell of the US-led world order.
As the world debates the relevance of the BRICS expansion, let us have a look at why so many countries are willing to join the organisation.
The Expansion
The six new members will become a part of BRICS effective 1 January 2024.
This is the second expansion of the grouping, which included Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC) at its inception in 2009, and went on to accommodate South Africa in 2010, thus becoming BRICS.
The move will more than double the bloc’s membership from 5 to 11, with the grouping now representing 40% of the world’s population, 32% of the global GDP, and including 6 out of the world’s top 10 energy suppliers.
With two members from South America, two from Africa, and the rest from Asia, the bloc is now one of the most representative organisations globally.
The expansion has added political, economic, and demographic heft to the bloc, which often posits itself as a “Voice of the Global South.”
Why Are Countries Flocking to BRICS?
In the run-up to the 2023 Summit, South Africa revealed that more than 40 countries expressed interest in joining the forum, with 22 of them having applied to join the bloc formally.
There are several reasons for the new found interest in the organisation, which was once declared redundant.
Voice of the Global South, Alternate Global Order
BRICS provides a platform for the countries of the Global South to raise their concerns, thus projecting the voice of the Global South.
The desire to join BRICS is a step taken by nations disgruntled by the discriminatory nature of the present world order, the fissures of which came to the fore in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the West continues to cling to the post-World War II, US-led global order, the rest of the world is demanding a change in terms of increased representation and the systemic overhaul of global organisations, including the UN.
Alternate Economic System
Countries are flocking to an organisation like BRICS as they realise the demerits of overdependency on the greenback-led economic system.
While the grouping did not discuss the idea of a single BRICS currency as many had predicted, it did hint at its push for dedollarisation by encouraging trade to be carried out in local currencies.
The group’s National Development Bank (NDB) set up in 2014 also provides an alternative to the global financial system, which is mediated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank and accused of practising financial statecraft in the name of developmental aid.
Circumventing Sanctions
As US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had warned, “Other countries could see the unprecedented US sanctions on Russia as a cautionary tale about what could happen to themselves if they ended up on Washington’s bad side.”
It seems that aspiring BRICS members, like Cuba, Venezuela, and Syria, among others, see the grouping as a forum to find alternative ways to circumvent Western sanctions.
Countries seeking to join the grouping also hope to reap the benefits of attempts to develop an alternative payment system to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT).
Changing Geopolitical Reality
In his statement at the Summit, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said this was the first phase of the expansion process and “other phases will follow.”
The four original BRICS members have refused to join US sanctions against Russia.
Countries are also joining BRICS in an attempt to put their weight behind countries at the helm in times of changed geopolitical realities.
This is especially true in light of the vocal support given to the expansion by China, which some have criticised as an attempt to dominate the grouping.
With changing political realities in West Asia, the continent is becoming the economic powerhouse of the world. Additionally, for African resource-rich countries attempting to reclaim their autonomy from foreign control, an organisation like BRICS presents an opportunity to liaise with countries representing the current geopolitical reality.
Issues with BRICS Expansion
While an expanded BRICS does have double the amount of power and weight, it also multiplies the internal incoherence of the grouping.
Primarily, the heterogeneity of the member states is a major bone of contention in the path of the organisation’s success.
The Sino-India rivalry, with deteriorating ties between the two nations, has the potential of making the organisation a ‘toothless tiger.’ Similarly, while there have been attempts to cement ties, newly added members like Iran and Saudi Arabia have been staunch rivals for long.
Intra-group fractures often hamper the efficiency of an organisation, as the Indo-Pak rivalry did to the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
New members like the UAE and Saudi Arabia have had very close ties with the US. Brazil shares good ties with the US, while India covertly supports the US’ attempts to contain China. This puts the organisation at the risk of becoming another forum for the US to exercise its heavy handedness.
The lack of consensus on important issues like demand for a common currency also reflect the grouping’s weaknesses.
While a more representative and multipolar world order is desirable, at least in the bloc’s present form, the Western concern about the grouping attempting to establish a new world order seems unfounded.
Moreover, an expanded BRICS should not be reduced to a forum of sounding empty anti-Western rhetoric. Rather, it should stay true to its purpose of giving voice to the developing and underdeveloped world. Merely imitating the present structures in place would be a step in the wrong direction.
Statecraft Explains | Why are So Many Countries Flocking to Join BRICS?
More than 40 countries have expressed interest in joining the grouping, which approved Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia as new members in August.
September 1, 2023
IMAGE SOURCE: NARENDRA MODI VIA TWITTER(From L-R) Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Chinese President Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Indian PM Narendra Modi, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the BRICS Leaders' Retreat on 22 August 2023.