Stacey May
This past October, Russia hosted the 16th annual BRICS summit. BRICS stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The organization was founded in 2009, driven by the influence of Vladimir Putin.
The goal of BRICS is to expand economies and diplomatic powers of developing countries. They are petitioning for greater representation in global organizations, a coordinated economic policy, and reduction in Western countries domination. BRICS has announced they are aiming to be “the leading voice of the global south.”
One of BRICS’ main goals is to reduce the use of the US dollar. Ideally, they would like to establish a BRICS currency or use China’s Renminbi. This could potentially break down the value of the US dollar, and damage Western economies.
With sanctions by Western countries on Russia for invading Ukraine, Renminbi use has increased so countries can continue to trade with Russia. Other countries may also transition to this to avoid possible sanctions in the future. Compared to China’s share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), there is the capability for lots of growth in the use of the Renminbi, but it is still far from overtaking the U.S. dollar.
At the 2023 BRICS summit, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates joined BRICS. This changed the organization's name to BRICS+. Argentina declined the invitation to join.
BRICS encompasses almost half of the world’s population, and almost a quarter of the global economy. BRICS countries also produce 44% of the world’s crude oil. They are a fast-growing and increasingly relevant economic group.
The term “BRICS” was originally created by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O’Neill in 2001. O’Neill recently told Rueter's BRICS will not be able to achieve overtaking the US dollar while India and China are so divided over boarder disputes.
According to South Africa’s president, 20 countries have requested to join and 20 more have expressed interest. At the recent BRICS summit, Putin said 30 countries had requested to join. As BRICS potentially expands, will they achieve their agenda?
O’Neill believes that it is not actually possible to solve global issues without the U.S., Europe, China, India, Russia and Brazil working together. O'Neill wrote, “The fact is that truly global challenges cannot be addressed through narrow groupings like the BRICS (or the G7 for the matter), and this will remain the case no matter how many members they add.”
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