The BRICS bloc is an economic, political and social alliance made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The first letters of each country gave the name to the bloc that held its first ministerial meeting in September 2006.
According to its website, BRICS is an informal group of states that sought to expand their multilateral cooperation and thus confront the world order dominated by the United States and its Western allies.
The bloc is not a formal multilateral organization like the United Nations, the World Bank or the Organization of American States.
Russia was the founding country of BRICS after President Vladimir Putin proposed a meeting on the sidelines of a UN General Assembly session in New York, according to its online site. Foreign ministers from Russia, Brazil and China and the Defense Minister of India participated in that meeting and expressed their interest in expanding multilateral cooperation.
The first BRIC summit (even without the integration of South Africa) was held on June 16, 2009. The leaders established the group's objective: “to promote dialogue and cooperation between countries, in an incremental, proactive, pragmatic, open and transparent.”
According to BRICS, its actions are aimed at serving the common interests of emerging market economies and developing countries.
South Africa joined the alliance in 2010.
The importance of the BRICS
The five countries that until now make up the bloc represent more than 42% of the global population, 30% of the world's territory, 23% of the GDP and 18% of world trade, according to official information from the Argentine Foreign Ministry.
According to the same source, the countries involved together contribute to 16% of global exports and 15% of imports of goods and services.
In addition, the countries that make up the BRICS group are partners of the New Development Bank (NBD), an entity created in 2015 and currently chaired by Dilma Rousseff, former president of Brazil.
The expansion of the BRICS
The August 2023 BRICS summit was the largest ever, with more than 60 countries attending along with all five members. Leaders from Argentina, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates attended
These nations were invited to join the group, although on December 29, the government of Javier Milei renounced Argentina's membership in the bloc, expressing that it did not consider its participation “opportune” because the current foreign policy axes differ from those of the management of former president Alberto Fernández.
Even with that resignation, the accession of the other five nations represents a victory for the bloc that has long sought to expand its influence.
According to an analysis by Nectar Gan, the expansion will more than double the group's membership and significantly expand its global reach, especially in the Middle East.
“For Beijing, as well as Moscow, the expansion is part of its campaign to turn the loose economic grouping into a geopolitical counterweight to the West; and for Western institutions like the G7,” he noted.
Gan adds that expanding the group became an even more urgent mission amid the rivalry between China and the United States, as well as the ramifications of the Ukraine war, which further distanced Beijing from the West over its support for Moscow.
