BRICS Path to Global Influence - Anastasia Golyakova

Under the motto "Strengthening Multilateralism for Just Global Development and Security", the year of Russia's BRICS Chairmanship has begun. Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasised the importance of this year for world politics.

Ironically, the idea of giving developing countries more weight in international organisations came from the West. Twenty years ago, Jim O'Neill, from Goldman Sachs proposed the acronym "BRIC" to refer to the economic giants – Brazil, Russia, India and China. He predicted their enormous influence in the world and called for a redistribution of the global political scene in their favour.

The meeting of Brazilian, Indian and Chinese ministers at the UN General Assembly in 2006 was the first step towards closer co-operation.

In 2009, the first BRIC summit was held in Ekaterinburg, with the heads of Brazil, Russia, India and China in attendance. This summit was the official recognition of the new alliance. Its goals included the reform of international economic institutions and the UN.

A significant event was the accession of South Africa in 2010, transforming BRIC into BRICS. In the same year, the BRICS countries successfully took the initiative to reform the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The next step was to create an institution that promoted mutual economic growth without involving the IMF and the World Bank. This idea led to the creation of the New Development Bank and a US$100 billion reserve fund aimed at protecting member economies.

The BRICS initiative has attracted the attention of other countries, many of which have applied to join. At the Johannesburg summit in 2023, six states – Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Egypt, UAE, Ethiopia and Argentina received formal invitations to join the group. The last later declined to join.

Russia's chairmanship in 2024 has ushered in a new era. There are plans to strengthen the BRICS' role in the global monetary system and expand interbank co-operation, as well as pay close attention to the development of new transport corridors.

The BRICS countries, with the diversity of their strengths and wealth, prefer to retain freedom in determining their policies. Territorial disputes do not interfere with constructive dialogue, and the BRICS influence continues to grow, attracting the interest of the whole world.

BRICS has thus come full circle: from a call for reform to global influence. Questions about the future – whether the group will be enriched with new countries and whether its structure will change – remain open. What is important is that the BRICS influence continues to grow, which emphasises the important role of the group in today's world. 

Anastasia Golyakova, translator, publicist

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