BRICS Is Getting Bigger. Can It Really Challenge the US?

By Michael Cohen

BRICS — an acronym that stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — has morphed from a term conceived by a Wall Street economist into a club of nations that accounts for around a quarter of the world’s nominal gross domestic product and roughly half of its population. It now has 10 full members, bringing together some of the globe’s biggest energy producers and consumers.

BRICS leaders will meet in New Delhi for their annual summit on Sept. 12 and 13 at a defining moment for the group. Its growing economic and political clout has drawn the ire of President Donald Trump, who last year threatened additional tariffs on countries aligning themselves with what he called the bloc’s “anti-American policies.” Meanwhile, some members have found themselves on opposing sides in the ongoing war in the Middle East.

This summit will test whether the bloc can overcome its internal divisions and take concrete action that can meaningfully sway the world order, or whether it will be reduced to a mere talk shop.

What is BRICS and who are its members?

The term BRIC was coined in 2001 by economist Jim O’Neill, then at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., to draw attention to the rapid growth and investment potential of Brazil, Russia, India and China. The four nations later adopted the concept as they sought to amplify their collective influence on the world stage. South Africa joined in 2010, adding another continent and the letter “S.”

BRICS serves as a high-profile forum for major emerging and developing economies to discuss global economic and political affairs. The group has expanded over the past two years, adding Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia and Egypt in 2024, followed by Indonesia in 2025. Saudi Arabia was announced as a new member and is listed as such on the BRICS website, although the country hasn’t officially confirmed its membership.

BRICS Has Expanded Its Footprint

BRICS has also created a category of “partner countries,” which can participate in some meetings but don’t have the same status as full members and aren’t signatories to the group’s declarations. Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam fall into that category. Turkey said in 2024 that it had been offered partner status, but the process has since stalled.

What is the purpose of BRICS?

The group has increasingly positioned itself as a counterweight to Western-led groups such as the Group of Seven industrialized nations — the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the UK — and advocates for a more multipolar world order. It has pushed for developing nations to have greater representation in institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, and promoted greater use of currencies other than the US dollar.

Economic cooperation is another focus. The group established a $100 billion emergency reserve facility and the New Development Bank, which has approved around $44 billion in financing since 2015, largely for water, transport and other infrastructure projects. BRICS members also cooperate on issues such as climate change, renewable energy, healthcare and technology.

China and Russia have championed the recent expansion of BRICS, seeing a larger bloc as a way to give emerging economies a greater say in global governance. The bloc offers its smaller and less affluent members an opportunity to build trade and financial ties with its larger economies, as well as potential access to alternative sources of funding.

What are the big issues hanging over the 2026 BRICS summit?

India, which is chairing the gathering, has said it will focus on deepening cooperation and policy coordination among members, and strengthening their ability to tackle global uncertainty, supply chain disruptions, climate risks and a host of other challenges.

Economic uncertainty will loom large over the discussions as wars in the Middle East and Ukraine disrupt global trade and contribute to higher energy, fertilizer and food prices.

The rapid development of artificial intelligence and its potential to bring about widespread job losses is another vexing issue. The US and China are at the forefront of developing the technology and infrastructure that support AI, while many developing economies risk falling further behind.

The intensifying climate crisis will also be a major concern as extreme weather events become increasingly frequent and damaging, and developing nations, which tend to be disproportionately vulnerable, often have fewer resources to adapt and recover.

Do BRICS members agree on the big issues?

The bloc’s members have widely divergent — and at times conflicting — interests, and their economic and political circumstances are very different. That makes it tricky for them to reach consensus on a wide range of contentious issues.

The war in the Middle East is a case in point. BRICS condemned US airstrikes on Iran in 2025 as a violation of international law, but the group hasn’t issued a unified statement on the war launched by the US and Israel against the Islamic Republic in February this year. The UAE — which hosts American bases and is closely allied to Washington — has itself been on the receiving end of Iranian missiles and drones, complicating efforts to agree on a common position. Egypt, a major recipient of US aid, is also unlikely to take a stance that would antagonize Trump.

Russia’s war in Ukraine, now in its fifth year, has also exposed divisions within the bloc. Egypt and Indonesia voted in favor of a United Nations resolution last year that called on Russia to unconditionally withdraw all its forces from Ukrainian territory and refrain from any further attacks, while other BRICS members either abstained or voted against it.

Trade relations with the US present another test. Most BRICS countries oppose the Trump administration’s protectionist policies and attempts to use tariffs as a bargaining tool, but their responses have varied widely. Some have opted for appeasement, pledging to ramp up investment in the US and open up their markets to American companies. Others — most notably China — have taken a more confrontational approach and responded with their own levies on US imports.

How does the US and Trump view BRICS?

Trump has attacked BRICS, portraying it as a threat to US economic interests. He’s described it as a “little group” that “is fading out fast,” dismissed its attempts to reduce global reliance on the dollar, and warned that nations seeking to undermine the greenback could face additional tariffs.

Iran’s membership of BRICS is another source of tension. Trump has been pushing for the total economic isolation of the Islamic Republic in a bid to force it to capitulate in the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz so the flow of oil and other commodities can resume unimpeded. That’s put BRICS at odds with the US, as the group seeks to deepen ties and increase trade between its members. Trump’s threat to sanction nations that continue doing business with Iran has also been rejected by China and others.

With assistance from Yasufumi Saito, Swati Pandey, and Sudhi Ranjan Sen.

Bloomberg

The views in the article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of InfoBRICS.