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The BRICS Organisation is an international intergovernmental organisation which was originally formed to highlight and discuss development opportunities, but then slowly evolved to become a forum to discuss geopolitical issues as well. BRICS is named after the first four founding countries that formed this organisation. The term was coined in 2001 by the then-chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management Jim O'Neill for any economic or trade strategy between Brazil, Russia, India, and China. Globally, they represent the interest of developing countries in world trade and geopolitics.
BRICS as an organisation was first formed in 2009, with the first summit being held in Yekaterinburg, Russia, between Brazil, Russia, India and China. South Africa joined the bloc a year later in 2010. Additionally, four new members joined in January of 2024: Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates. The focus originally was on the current economic situation at the time, the reformation of financial institutions, and how developing countries could cooperate with each other. One of their first major resolutions included creating the New Development Bank in 2014, which established a new financial institution that could compete with the liberal, democratic and Western-centric International. This bank is headquartered in Shanghai, China, and its membership includes the BRICS members and other developing nations, such as Bangladesh and Uruguay.
On a related topic check out Omera's article examining the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank : “Are International Institutions Imperial?”
Many of BRICS’ policies have been enacted to rival the policies and organisations supported by the G7, a forum composed of developed countries that want to promote Western liberal democracy, such as the United States and the United Kingdom. Other than the New Development Bank, the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement and BRICS PAY are examples of economic policies which directly oppose the economic policies and organisations supported and dominated by the G7. The Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) is seen as a competitor to the IMF and the World Bank, and is a framework for the provision of support through liquidity and precautionary instruments in response to pressures on the balance of payments. The main objective is to provide protection against global liquidity pressures, and was ratified in 2015 at the 7th BRICS Summit. On the other hand, BRICS PAY is a distributed payment messaging mechanism system, and is similar to Europe’s SWIFT (The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication). The similarity of created frameworks, policies and organisations further reinforces the view that BRICS’ main purposes include providing similar provisions to the G7, but for developing countries, and thereby opposing them.
BRICS’ actions are not without controversy and criticism however, particularly from Western democratic countries and/or countries in G7. For example, in 2023, South Africa stated that they would give diplomatic immunity to Putin so that he could attend a BRICS summit despite the ICC’s warrant for his arrest in response to his orchestration of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The internal structure of the organisation has also received considerable discussion with polarising ideas. Some scholars argue that China has an overly domineering presence within the organisation due to their geopolitical strength, but this is disputed. Some scholars highlight the disputes and conflicts between countries inside the organisation and question their coherence and success in decision-making as a result, focusing particularly on India and China’s territorial disputes, such as the Kashmir region.
To conclude, BRICS is an organisation which provides a platform for developing countries and allies of the five main countries to voice their geopolitical and economic stances, in a world where international organisations have been criticised by many for favouring Western democratic approaches and sidelining developing countries. With the countries represented predicted to have rapid economic and population growth, it is likely their importance and stake in international affairs will increase. However, it is still crucial to note that questions remain over their internal coherence, and whether their opposition to G7/Western democratic countries, who are noted to have immense geopolitical influence, will affect their success.
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