Often seen as politically irrelevant, the BRICS seem to be arousing some interest in the international community. Counting on the number of countries knocking at the door, the bloc formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa may be experiencing its rebirth in the face of the current shifting context of the world order.
At the end of July, Algeria announced its intention to join the group, a request that had also been made, days before, by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran and Turkey. Earlier this year, Argentine President Alberto Fernández personally asked Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to support the country’s candidacy.
Although there are differences in the interests of each nation, two points seem to bring all these advances closer: the perception that the BRICS can strengthen ties with China and at the same time provide a strategic platform at a time when the West is beginning to lose relevance in the global structure. of power.
Ana Garcia, director of the Brics Policy Center, recalls that the group was born at the beginning of the century as a debate on the loss of influence of traditional powers and the emergence of new poles of power. At the center of the discussion was the reformulation of the so-called Bretton Woods institutions, such as the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and the World Bank.
However, after some advances in the 2010s — which include the creation of a development bank (NDB) and a partial reform of the IMF — Garcia says the bloc has entered a certain doldrums. “The BRICS tried to propose a rating agency, a trade agreement [entre os membros], and none of it went ahead. The annual summits only got the lowest common denominator of the final statements,” he says.
According to her, the scenario has begun to change in recent years, with the War in Ukraine signaling a turning point and bringing geopolitical weight to the group, which is now a solid counterpoint to the West. “With that, the BRICS begins to be more attractive to countries like Iran and Argentina, which are looking for alternative alliances to avoid becoming dependent on Western countries, their banks and creditors.”
Victor do Prado, former director of the WTO (World Trade Organization) and expert at Cebri (Brazilian Center for International Relations), points out that the expectation of new Brics entrants is not something new. Argentina, for example, had already signaled interest for some time, as had Mexico, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Faced with a reorganization of the world order – which 15 years ago was centered on the US and today can be considered multipolar – he says that the BRICS gains strength and becomes a very important mechanism by bringing together the large nations that do not form the so-called Western bloc. “It’s as if the BRICS were a reincarnation of the Non-Aligned Movement, with all the differences between that world [Guerra Fria] and the current one”, he says.
It is still unclear what the chances are that new chairs will be created. The bloc is an informal organization, without headquarters, statute and a defined membership process. The entry of other countries basically depends on the approval of the heads of state.
China has already made explicit its willingness to welcome new members, which is related to Beijing’s interest in attracting more countries into its sphere of influence against the West. Eager for multilateral articulations, Russia also supports expansion. Brazil, on the other hand, does not look favorably on it, fearing a dilution of its influence in the bloc.
In an interview with Russian newspaper Izvestia, the president of the BRICS Forum, India’s Purnima Anand, said that new countries would increase the bloc’s influence in the world and that accession could happen soon – including at the next summit, in 2023.
Evandro Menezes de Carvalho, coordinator of the Center for China-Brazil Studies at FGV Direito Rio, also attributes the recent attractiveness of the BRICS to changes in the world order. Integrating a congregation of powers with a political agenda focused on the global South is especially interesting in this context of vacuum left by the West.
However, he points out that the bloc’s relevance also piggybacks on the rise of China, which accounts for the bloc’s best economic indicators and is the market of greatest interest.
Argentina, for example, wants to position itself as an alternative for Beijing not to become so dependent on Brazilian soy — and being in the BRICS can be a facilitator. In the view of Ana Garcia, from the Brics Policy Center, consolidating this approximation is in the interest of all the other countries that apply for a vacancy. “I have no doubt that the attractive heavyweight for any country to be close to the BRICS is the relationship with China,” she says.
“The more the West presses to contain the rise of China and Russia, the more they will try to attract new countries, creating alliances and multilateral spaces to call their own”, he adds.
