Six BRICS will join the mix to nix clique politics
Welcome to Bandung 2.0.
On Thursday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa took to the stage at the 15th BRICS Summit with a big announcement.
- The existing BRICS will invite six new countries to join the grouping.
The lucky inductees:
- Argentina
- Egypt
- Ethiopia
- Iran
- Saudi Arabia
- United Arab Emirates
Some context: Beijing has been pushing to expand the BRICS grouping since at least 2017, as part of broader efforts to provide alternatives to Western-led multilateral institutions.
Xi Jinping was stoked (Xinhua):
- “The expansion reflects the resolution of the BRICS countries to unite and cooperate with other developing countries…and serves the common interests of emerging markets and developing countries.”
Hot goss: Reuters cited a BRICS country official as saying that 11th hour negotiations on admission criteria nearly torpedoed the expansion agreement.
- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reportedly proposed that inductees reach a minimum GDP per capita, and not be targeted by international sanctions.
- The latter requirement would have ruled out Iran, which indicates this criteria was dropped.
Get smart: BRICS expansion is a big win for China as it looks to challenge Western hegemony and promote its Global Development, Security, and Civilization Initiatives.
Get smarter: Expanding the BRICS bloc is a double-edged sword.
- Broader membership gives BRICS more economic and political heft and a stronger claim to represent developing world interests.
- But it also increases the likelihood that internal squabbles between member states will hamstring the organization.