Brics Nations at Odds Over Adding to Their Number
Brics bloc of emerging economies to counterbalance Western influence, while others in the group are reluctant to admit new entrants, such as Iran and Cuba, for fear of alienating Washington. The debate among the Brics nations—Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa—about whether and how to expand will likely feature prominently during the group’s first in-person leaders’ summit since the pandemic. The presidents of Brazil, China and South Africa, as well as the Indian prime minister, are set to attend the gathering here starting Tuesday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was originally slated to attend, but a warrant for his arrest by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Ukraine would have obliged South Africa, an ICC member, to arrest him had he shown up. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will attend instead. Putin is expected to address the summit virtually.
Bracketed together originally by the clip of their economic growth, the Brics nations now account for more than a quarter of the global economy and some 42% of the world’s population. But the group’s size is matched by the scale of its disunity on political and security issues—including relations with the U.S. The five countries also represent vastly different governing systems and ideologies.
Any expansion could multiply those differences. Widening the membership would likely give China another mechanism for exercising leadership of the developing world, especially if the group trends more authoritarian. Russia, which has been isolated by much of the rest of the globe over the war in Ukraine, is also supportive of growing the club, in particular to include African nations as it develops new markets and allies on the continent to
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