BRICS Summit in Johannesburg
Credit: Reuters Photo
Leaders of BRICS, a group of emerging-market nations that represent about half of the world's population, will meet for a high-profile summit Tuesday, their first since a major expansion last year.
BRICS stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. This year, the group has expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. The members will gather for the three-day conference in Kazan, a city in southwest Russia.
The summit comes at a high-profile moment for BRICS, which sees itself as a counterweight to the West. World leaders will stand side by side with President Vladimir Putin of Russia, despite his pariah status in the West.
But there are deep differences among member states, and the bloc has struggled to articulate and define its purpose.
What is BRICS?
The grouping was invented in 2001 by a Goldman Sachs banker to describe a group of fast-growing developing countries. The foreign ministers of the countries -- initially just Brazil, Russia, India, and China -- began informally meeting in 2006, and had their first formal summit in 2009.
South Africa joined in 2010. Many more countries have sought to join the BRICS orbit since the 2023 expansion, which China championed. But not all were so eager: Argentina declined the invitation after a change of government, and Saudi Arabia has not officially joined despite an invitation.
Today, the group's members account for more than 35% of global economic output, adjusted by purchasing power.
BRICS has long sought to present a united front against what its members see as an unbalanced global order that is dominated by the United States and Western Europe.
Some members believe "that the current global order is kind of made by the West, for the West," said Stewart Patrick, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
This summit will also be an opportunity for BRICS to show off its new roster, weighted toward the Global South. The group could also discuss adding a category of partners that falls short of full membership.
What holds the group together?
It's not easy to pigeonhole the BRICS. The group includes some countries that are allies, but also some that are antagonists and rivals. Some of the countries are opposed to the United States (Russia, Iran); others are recipients of U.S. military aid (Egypt) and hosts to U.S. military bases (UAE).
Some members are democracies; many are not. Ethiopia is a poor country; China is the world's second-biggest economy. Some states produce oil and gas; others import their energy.
They do not share a religion or fight the same wars, either -- except, perhaps, against each other: Last month, for instance, tensions escalated between Ethiopia and Egypt in a long-standing dispute over a hydroelectric dam on the Nile River.
Sarang Shidore, director of the Global South program at the Quincy Institute in Washington, described the BRICS as something like a two-pronged coalition.
He calls one side the "Global East" -- China, Russia and, at times, Iran -- which are rivals or antagonists of the United States and NATO. Many of the other countries in the bloc fit more comfortably into the category of "Global South." They tend to be more neutral or outright U.S. allies.
What does the Global East want?
China is a major US rival. Russia and Iran, US adversaries, are subject to tough Western sanctions and are fighting proxy wars with the West in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Together, these three countries hope to present a more united bloc to counter the West. Putin is also determined to show the West that he is not alone and has important allies on his side.
Putin presents his country's war in Ukraine as "the spearhead of destroying the old world order and helping to build a new one," said Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin. "And BRICS is the most potent and representative structure of this new world order."
One additional goal: reducing global reliance on the US dollar.
Reducing the dollar's dominance could give members insulation from Western sanctions, now and in the future. "These sanctions only work because the dollar dominates the world," Shidore said. "It is an attempt to insulate from the dollar's hegemony."
For now, the goal is mostly aspirational. There is no clear agreement as to what could replace the dollar. Experts are also skeptical that any new BRICS-specific currency would be stable enough to be trusted for cross-border transactions.
What about the 'Global South'?
Many BRICS members are trying to balance competing alliances and priorities. They still work closely with the United States and other nations in the West, even as they seek to gain more global leverage.
India, which has touted its strategic multi-alignment, is also in the Quad, a security partnership with Australia, Japan and the United States. Egypt and the Emirates have grown closer with China, while also working with the United States and Israel on regional security. Brazil, a strong proponent of de-dollarization, still relies heavily on the U.S., which is its second-largest trading partner.
"These are not anti-West, but they do have critiques of the current order and they want to hedge their bets," Shidore said.
Participation in BRICS is partially an economic bet. Some members, as well as the would-be partner states, are also looking for alternative sources of financing. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are dominated by the West, especially the United States.
Some developing countries see the BRICS development bank as less demanding. It has given out billions of dollars in loans, and allows repayments in local currency.
But many members also see BRICS as geopolitical insurance against a shifting world -- and a hedge against the unpredictability of the United States.
The uncertainty around the presidential election only adds to the sense of uncertainty, Patrick said: "The United States has shown that it's able to upend its foreign policy 180 degrees, depending on the occupant of the White House."
What does China want?
China, which championed the expansion, is seen as the unofficial powerhouse of BRICS. "Nothing happens in the BRICS that goes against the national interests of China," said Jacob Kirkegaard, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
China and Russia are close, even though they sometimes compete for influence. China has been a key trading partner for Russia during the war in Ukraine. Recently, the two countries have grown bolder: Their militaries have held joint exercises near the US, Japan and Taiwan.
China also buys nearly all of Iran's oil exports. Any loss of supply from Iran -- because of a military strike by Israel, for example -- would have China turning to global markets for even more of its energy needs.
And China and India are in a reassessment period. The countries, which have fought several wars against each other, also see each other as potential future adversaries. India's population is growing; China's is shrinking. India is buoyed by economic optimism; China's growth has been lackluster.
But after many Indian and Chinese soldiers died in border disputes, the countries seem to be trying to work out a truce. Some analysts are watching to see whether their leaders are friendly at the summit, which could be a sign of warming ties.