What is BRICS and which countries are “in line” for membership?

Maria Zakharova, the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, stated in an interview to TASS on September 8 within the framework of the Eastern Economic Forum, that there are a large number of applications for the enlargement of BRICS.

“Why is everyone going to BRICS?” This question was dominant during the Eastern Economic Forum. The answer is very simple: the world is voting for a different format of interaction. The world is tired and no longer sees results in American attacks and aggressions. The world wants to build other relations. The world now wants to stick to the principles of fundamental human rights. But since Washington, like a serial killer from its own movie, destroys everything with a saw or an ax, the world is forced to seek new forms of interaction such as BRICS and not NATO,” said Zakharova.

And in an interview with Izvestiya, Zakharova noted that the desire of many countries to join BRICS can be explained by the organization’s clear agenda, pluralism and current topics not being politicized.

Fact Investigation Platform studied what kind of organization BRICS is, which countries are ” in line” to become members of that organization.

The origin of BRICS

The organization was founded in June 2006 (as BRIC) within the framework of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum with the participation of the Ministers of Economy of Brazil, Russia, India and China. The BRIC acronym was first used by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O’Neill to describe these four economies that, if continue to grow, could dominate the global economy by 2050.

In 2011, the Republic of South Africa joined the organization, as a result of which the former acronym became BRICS.

BRICS is commonly understood as an attempt to form a geopolitical bloc that can counterbalance the influence of Western-dominated global institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

At the organization’s first summit in 2009, members reaffirmed their commitment to a multipolar world order and global non-interventionism and called for a new global reserve currency as an alternative to the US dollar (De-dollarisation).

After criticizing some aspects of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank at the 2012 BRICS summit, members of the organization proposed to establish a new International Development Bank to provide funding and loans for development projects in developing economies. This new development bank was launched in July 2014 when the BRICS members raised $100 billion as the bank’s authorized capital.

BRICS has no rigid structure, headquarters or charter. This is, in fact, an informal club, a platform for cooperation. Every year, one or another participating country is appointed the president of the group, which organizes the summit and coordinates the current activities of the club. There are no specific leaders in BRICS: secretary generals, presidents, etc. Representatives of the participating countries gather at annual summits and discuss issues related to the acceleration of economic growth rates and strategies to strengthen their positions on the global arena. Since the establishment of BRICS, 14 summits have been held.

Due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, BRICS member Russia, as well as China, have been expelled from Western international organizations. According to the position of Moscow and Beijing, the organization should oppose the global system that serves the interests of the United States.

BRICS members, which were once European colonies, see the organization as a path to the development of post-colonial states.

However, as researcher Miles Kenney writes, critics argue that BRICS is just a nominal grouping whose members actually have very different interests and geopolitical positions, even different economic structures.

BRICS and Democracy

Democracy, rule of law and protection of human rights are not criteria for membership in BRICS, as it is in the case of European organizations.

BRICS member states have not sanctioned Russia for the Russian-Ukrainian war, as the West did.

BRICS and enlargement

The BRICSenlargement proposal was first made in May 2022 during the meeting of the foreign ministers of the member states. By the way, there were disagreements within the organization on this issue, and, for example, India was against the englargement of the organization.

At the 2023 BRICS summit held in South Africa, more than 20 countries applied for association.

However, in the end, only six countries received an invitation: Argentina, Egypt, Iran, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia. Five of these countries officially became BRICS members on January 1, 2024, and Argentina’s new government has decided not to join the organization because it “doesn’t want to deal with communists.” In 2024 on June 10-11, the first meeting of BRICS foreign ministers in a new, enlarged format was held in Nizhny Novgorod.

As of today, 28 countries have expressed their desire to become full members of the association or to receive the status of a partner state. These countries include Azerbaijan, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bolivia, Zimbabwe, Eritrea, Thailand, Turkiye, Indonesia, Cuba, South Sudan, Equatorial Guinea, Honduras, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Nigeria, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Chad, Pakistan, Senegal, Syria , Venezuela, Vietnam, Uganda and Kuwait

Azerbaijan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bolivia, Zimbabwe, Thailand, Cuba, Honduras, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Venezuela have officially applied for membership.

Recently, it became known that a few months ago, Turkiye also submitted an official application to join BRICS. Palestine also wants to submit an application to join the organization.

These countries want to join BRICS because, according to them, the organization is making efforts to create a new world order and joining BRICS will help them avoid getting into “bipolar conflicts” and have access to new global markets, investments and technologies.

After enlargement, BRICS covers almost 46% of the world’s population (China and India alone account for 86% of the population of BRICS countries), 36% of global GDP (of which China alone accounts for 65% of BRICS countries) and 25% of world trade as measured by export volumes.

BRICS members and their different interests

The enlargement of BRICS at the beginning of the year to include five new member states raised questions about its political and economic implications. The economic criteria of the organization are unclear either in terms of size, growth, or organization. After enlargement, there is no economic solidarity in the organization. Not all members have high economic growth.

The real strength of the organization is further undermined by the deep internal problems of key member states. Researcher Miles Kenny writes that analysts point to serious economic and political challenges that, if not addressed, could slow or even reverse economic growth and the geopolitical influence of key member states.

BRICS members disagree in terms of security policy either. China, Russia, and Iran are geopolitical rivals of the United States, while Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates share close security ties with the United States.

According to Peter Marcus Christensen, associate professor of political science at the University of Copenhagen, BRICS can be seen as a symbol of the transition to a more “multipolar” world order, with many regional power centers where the West must adapt to being an equal player among many others, but not all of them want to get rid of international liberal order.

Several BRICS members do not want to “take sides” between the Russia-China axis or the West. Brazil, in particular, emphasized that BRICS is not an alternative, but a complement to other platforms, such as, for example, the G7.

Tension within BRICS is also easy to note. India and China are geopolitical rivals engaged in over 60 years of land border disputes and maritime competition for dominance in the Indo-Pacific region.

Iran and Saudi Arabia have historically been regional rivals, despite a recent rapprochement brokered by China.

Egypt and Ethiopia are in conflict over the Nile River, despite ongoing attempts at negotiations.

Peter Marcus Christensen notes that the enlargement of BRICS will not only not strengthen the group, but will only weaken its previous cohesion. “The BRICS group and some of its members have sought to present themselves as the unified voice of the Global South in international politics. But instead of becoming a unified mouthpiece for the Global South, BRICS is likely to be a forum for discord and competition in the region,” writes Christensen.

The Kazan agenda

In 2024, the presidency of the organization was assumed by Russia under the slogan “Strengthening multilateralism for just global development and security.”  On October 22-24, a BRICS summit will be held in Kazan, where issues related to the candidates and their membership format will be determined.

Russia has invited 36 foreign leaders to the BRICS summit. In addition to the member states of the organization, the leaders of the CIS countries, the heads of states presiding over the influential regional integration associations of Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, as well as the leaders of countries that claim to join the organization or are interested in cooperation with BRICS, were invited to the summit. By the way, Armenia will also be represented at the summit.

Syuzanna Hambardzumyan