BRICS: Inclination Towards the Political and Economic Alliance

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the BRICS alliance, examining the political, economic, and social interests of its member nations: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. It explores the historical context of the alliance, its formation as an alternative power structure to Western dominance, and the unique motivations of each member country. The report highlights the economic growth facilitated by BRICS, the increasing GDP, and the significant role it plays in global trade and financial reform. It also discusses the individual benefits for each member, such as China's global market competition with the US, Russia's economic expansion, India's neutral stance in international politics, and South Africa's trade relations. The report further analyzes the challenges faced by BRICS, including the decline in economic growth and internal conflicts, while concluding that the alliance continues to reshape the international sphere and offers developing countries a platform for influence. The report references various scholarly articles and publications to support its claims and analysis.

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The name BRICs is an acronym coined by economist Jim O’Neill in 2001 (Granello,
2016). The acronym is referred to the enlisted countries of the organisation such as Brazil,
Russia, India, China and South Africa. However, the inclusion of South Africa was happened in
2011. The organisation was established in 2006 by a regular informal diplomatic coordination
among the member nations and held its first summit in 2009 (Kingah & Quiliconi, 2016). It was
argued by the scholars that BRICS is a strategic step taking by these countries which fosters a
new dimension in the international politics. As in the BRICS plan, the organisation is primarily
followed two important principle that coordination between the multicultural nexus of the
nations with key focus on the economic and political governance and secondly, building
cooperation among the member nations. Hence, it is imperative to understand the reason behind
such alliance. In order to do that the discussion puts emphasis on the social, economic and
political interests of the members and link those elements with the global scenario.
Politically, it can be stated that the member countries are considered to be placed on a
diverse political background and historically witnessed a diverse political situation domestically
or internationally. For each of the member nations BRICS is seemed to be an alternative power
nexus away from the political domination of the West or to be precise the Western European big
powers and United States. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the decline of Soviet Union in
1990s the political dynamics of the world had shifted from bipolar to unipolar where US was
controlling the global politics (Fuchs, 2015). In this context, the new alliance in the name of
BRICS projects the emergence of an alternative power. All the member countries have their
unique interests for coming under a single canopy of power. In case of Russia despite of the
decline of its erstwhile power in the 21st century it turns its gaze from west to the East and tries to
influence the developing countries. Besides this, the other countries though supposed to be

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treated as developing nations but possess great potential to change the world. For instance, China
is a permanent member of the security council of the UN and also maintains the largest army in
the world. Based on this, it can be asserted that the incorporation of China is a great move for the
BRICS committee (Delalibera, Issler & Branco, 2018). In fact, in case of India, Brazil and South
Africa, each of the countries are considered to be leading developing countries around the world.
Moreover, the huge market of these countries seems lucrative to the big powers. In order to keep
the big powers restricted this kind of organisation creates great significance.
In the economic scenario the motives of BRICS become more transparent. Due to the
advantages of globalisation the BRICS has become an important source of the international
economic growth. In fact, the average GDP of the member nations of BRICS has been
heightened from 11 per cent in the initial years to 30 per cent in 2014 (Williams, 2015).
Moreover, BRICS capitalises 17 per cent of the global trade with an estimated amount of US$4
trillion in reserves. From an individual aspect the member nations also get benefit from signing
into the BRICS. For instance, the market capitalisation of Brazil increases up to 74 per cent
where as in India it escalates from 12 per cent to 93 per cent (Rasoulinezhad & Jabalameli,
2018). Both China and Russia also identified as the beneficiaries through BRICS. Therefore, it is
an undeniable fact that BRICS has become a new driving force in the global economy. This
influential trend of BRICS is further propelled the common objectives of the member nations to
reform the international financial and monetary system that will able to serve the interests of all
in a fair manner.
In the individual perception BRICS provides innumerable advantages to the members. In
case of China due to its global market competition with US, the country urges an alternative
plan. In this regards, BRICS serves the interest of China in a pragmatic manner by creating a

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sense of cooperation among its members. Russia also utilizes BRICS as a key tool to flourish its
economy. In fact, BRICS renders the opportunity to Russia to expand its market in the Far East.
The case of India is not so lucid. On the contrary, it based on a complex case scenario. Since
independence, the country is following a neutral policy in international politics and in return
seeks help from both US and Russia in time of urgency. In this context, BRICS delivers a
justification to Indian stand point. In fact, as the neighbouring countries both China and India are
identified as the Asian giants where China flaunts its capital power and India exercises its large
market. In addition to this, South Africa is also rewarded with the profitable nature of BRICS.
The current strategy of South Africa is highly lingered with its link to large trade relations in the
Europe. As a matter of fact, the automobile industry of Germany has a good relationship with
South Africa and approximately 60,000 South African workers are employed in that sector (Ghio
& Verona, 2015). As a result of that South Africa becomes the second largest economy in the
Sub-Saharan region.
In course of the discussion, it is essential to understand the future of BRICS and the
reason behind the existence of this global forum in the long run. It can be argued that BRICS is
not only a platform driven by the political and economic factors but also able to play a
significant role in global economic governance. The cooperation among the BRICS members
leads to progressive changes in the international system out of the intervention of United States.
Since the economic depression in 1929 and the Wall-Street crash in 2008 the global economy
had suffered a lot and urged for a new power nexus to control the global economy (Fuchs, 2015).
Despite of the significance and urgency for an alternative political and economic platform in the
global spectrum, the present case scenario is moving against the need. As a parallel power in
Asia, the enmity between India and China becomes heightened in a rapid pace. Meanwhile, the

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booming trend of the Brazilian economy got shattered and reduced the influence internationally.
Russia has its own motives to create agreements with each country. Due to these fragmented
interests of individual countries, it can be estimated that in near future the efficacy and relevance
of BRICS will be no more effective and the possible power nexus will lose its permanence as the
member nations are possibly not staying in BRICS.
Therefore, it can be stated that the advent of BRICS helps the countries to play an
influential role in the global context. This new nexus of political powers leads towards an
alternative dimension where developing countries also have a major role in reshaping the
international sphere. However, in recent times BRICS is facing some challenges in terms of
global financial crisis. Moreover, there is a decline of the ascending curve of success and the
growth has fallen to 36 per cent in 2015. Despite of the challenges, it can be concluded that the
presence of BRICS in the international politics envisages a new picture of elevation of the
developing countries to set up a new structure of global power. It ushers checks and balances in
global power and fosters stability across the world.
Reference
Delalibera, B. R., Issler, J. V., & Branco, R. C. (2018). Using common features to investigate
common growth cycles for BRICS Countries. Economia Aplicada, 21(4), 589-615.
Fuchs, C. (2015). The MacBride Report in Twenty-first-century Capitalism, the Age of Social
Media and the BRICS Countries. Javnost-The Public, 22(3), 226-239.
Ghio, A., & Verona, R. (2015, June). Accounting harmonization in the BRIC countries: A common
path?. In Accounting Forum (Vol. 39, No. 2, pp. 121-139). Elsevier.

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Granello, D. (2016). The BRICS countries: strides toward Greater Representation in international
institutions.
Kingah, S., & Quiliconi, C. (Eds.). (2016). Global and regional leadership of BRICS countries.
Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
Naudé, W., Szirmai, A., & Haraguchi, N. (Eds.). (2015). Structural change and industrial
development in the BRICS. OUP Oxford.
Nordenstreng, K., & Thussu, D. K. (Eds.). (2015). Mapping BRICS media. Routledge.
Rasoulinezhad, E., & Jabalameli, F. (2018). Do BRICS Countries Have Similar Trade Integration
Patterns?. Journal of Economic Integration, 33(1), 1011-1045.
Williams, A. (2015). Communication between BRICS Governments and Their Citizens. Meta-
communicate, 5(2).