The expansion of BRICS will help build dominance and reshape global governance into a multipolar world order
The President of South Africa – Cyril Ramaphosa, has announced that Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Iran will join the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) group of developing nations in 2024.
Also joining next year will be Egypt, Ethiopia and Argentina. All the countries invited had already expressed an interest in joining. The expansion was pushed heavily by Russia and China as they are facing sanctions from Western nations.
The expansion will help build dominance and reshape global governance into a multipolar world order that puts the voices of the Global South at the centre of the world agenda.
In a video message, the President of Russia – Vladimir Putin, congratulated the new BRICS members, adding that the bloc’s global influence would continue to grow.
Putin said in a message, “I would like to congratulate the new members who will work in a full-scale format next year. And I would like to assure all our colleagues that we will continue the work that we started today on expanding the influence of BRICS in the world. [By that] I mean establishing practical work with new members and with those who will work in the BRICS outreach with our partners and would like to work with us.”
The President of China – Xi Jinping, called the bloc’s expansion historic, reflecting its determination to unite and cooperate with developing countries.
Xi Jinping said, “It will inject new impetus into the BRICS cooperation mechanism and further strengthen the power of world peace and development.”
Taking it to X (formerly Twitter), Ramaphosa tweeted,
BRICS is a diverse group of nations.
— Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 (@CyrilRamaphosa) August 24, 2023
It is an equal partnership of countries that have differing views but a shared vision for a better world.
As the five #BRICS members, we have reached agreement on the guiding principles, standards, criteria and procedures of the #BRICS…
Welcoming the new members, the Prime Minister of India – Narendra Modi tweeted,
On the occasion of the 15th anniversary of BRICS, we have taken the decision to expand this forum. India has always fully supported this expansion. Such an expansion will make BRICS stronger and more effective.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 24, 2023
In that spirit, India welcomes Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran,…
The announcement puts Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude oil exporter and the world’s biggest oil importer – China, in the same economic bloc. It also means Russia and Saudi Arabia, both members of OPEC+, a group of major oil producers, will join each other in a new economic bloc. The two countries often coordinate their oil output, which has in the past put Saudi Arabia at odds with its ally, the United States (U.S.).
Thanking the BRICS economies, the President of the UAE – Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan tweeted,
We respect the vision of the BRICS leadership and appreciate the inclusion of the UAE as a member to this important group. We look forward to a continued commitment of cooperation for the prosperity, dignity and benefit of all nations and people around the world.
— محمد بن زايد (@MohamedBinZayed) August 24, 2023
The bloc’s expansion raises the question of potential de-dollarization, a process by which members would gradually switch to using currencies other than the U.S. dollar to conduct trade. It comes at a time when Russia and China are having difficult ties with the U.S.
Adding countries like Iran that are openly antagonistic towards the West could swing the group further toward becoming an anti-Western bloc. It is to be noted that BRICS held its first summit in 2009 with 4 members and then added South Africa the following year. It launched its New Development Bank in 2015.
