Written by 
“One of the more remarkable developments over the last 25 years is that an investment banker’s arbitrary acronym for a quartet of emerging market economies has become the rubric for rebellion,” FP’s Keith Johnson wrote ahead of the high-profile BRICS meeting in Kazan, Russia, last week. It was the first summit since the group—originally comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and later South Africa—added Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates to its ranks.
But can BRICS really create, as some analysts suggest, an alternative to the Western-led international order and the dominance of the U.S. dollar? The essays below offer a primer on the bloc at this pivotal moment in its development and contextualize some of the debates on its potential to disrupt the global balance of power.
“One of the more remarkable developments over the last 25 years is that an investment banker’s arbitrary acronym for a quartet of emerging market economies has become the rubric for rebellion,” FP’s Keith Johnson wrote ahead of the high-profile BRICS meeting in Kazan, Russia, last week. It was the first summit since the group—originally comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and later South Africa—added Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates to its ranks.
But can BRICS really create, as some analysts suggest, an alternative to the Western-led international order and the dominance of the U.S. dollar? The essays below offer a primer on the bloc at this pivotal moment in its development and contextualize some of the debates on its potential to disrupt the global balance of power.
An illustration shows (from left) Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Chinese President Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as they pose for a group photo at the BRICS summit in Johannesburg on Aug. 23, 2023. Foreign Policy illustration/Getty Images
Can BRICS Finally Take On the West?
FP’s Keith Johnson analyzes how an ad hoc gaggle of countries turned themselves into global revolutionaries and why it might yet matter for the West.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrives to attend a session during the 10th BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, on July 27, 2018.GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP via Getty Images
Turkey’s BRICS Balancing Act
By applying to join the group, Ankara is signaling to the West that it should not be taken for granted, Jorge Heine and Ariel González Levaggi write.
Brian Stauffer illustration for Foreign Policy
Don’t Bet Against the Dollar
U.S. competitors are pushing the limits of autonomy within a dollar-based system, but there isn’t a real global alternative—and the world is far from an inflection point, Jared Cohen writes.
A Thai woman has her face painted with a Thai flag prior to the opening ceremony of the AFC Asian Football Cup in Bangkok on July 7, 2007.Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/AFP/Getty Images
Southeast Asia in BRICS Is Good for the Global Order
The club’s expansion affirms the Global South’s hedging strategy—and sends a message to the great powers, Sarang Shidore writes.
Officials of BRICS countries pose for a family photo during the 2023 BRICS Summit in Johannesburg on Aug. 23, 2023.Gianluigi Guercia/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
The Young and the Westless
New centers of power are emerging as a new generation in the global south looks beyond Washington and former European colonizers, Samir Puri writes.