Major countries of the world have come together and many others have said they want to join the BRICS; an acronym for Brazil, China, India, Russia, and South Africa, to put an end to the usage and dependence on the U.S. dollar and sanctions from the West.
BRICS started in 2001 after Goldman Sachs wrote that the global economy will be dominated by the four BRIC economies by 2050. South Africa joined the movement in 2010.
One of the major aims of BRICS is to bring about the de-dollarization of the world and probably usher in a new world order – currently, the United States dollar is the default currency in the world and international trade.
BRICS member countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa are trying to provide an alternative model to the G7 nations.
The G7 which was founded in 1975 is an association of heads of state of the world’s most advanced economies – Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Canada, and the United States are members, as is the EU.
The BRICS nations launched the New Development Bank as an alternative to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund In 2014, with $50 billion (around €46 billion) in seed money. They also created a liquidity structure called the Contingent Reserve Arrangement to support members struggling with payments.
These offers were not only attractive to the BRICS member nations themselves but also appealed to many other developing and emerging countries that had poor experiences with the IMF’s structural adjustment programs and austerity measures. This is why many countries said they are interested in joining the BRICS group.
Countries That Want To Join BRICS
Many countries have signified interest in joining the BRICS movement. In an interview in March, South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said worldwide interest in the BRICS group was “huge” and that 12 countries currently have submitted their request to join.
“Saudi Arabia is one,” she said. “United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Algeria, and Argentina,” as well as Mexico and Nigeria.
Other countries that have expressed interest to join BRICS also include: Bahrain, Indonesia, Turkey. Currently, 20 countries are reportedly in the queue.
There are also reports that BRICS nations; Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, in terms of the total share of the gross social product in the world economy, have overtaken the G7 member countries, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain, USA, and EU. The current five BRICS participate with 31.5 percent of global GDP, while the share of the G7 has fallen to 30 percent.
Comparison Between BRICS and NATO
Here is a statistical side-by-side comparison between BRICS and NATO member countries when combined together.