At the end of May, Thailand officially announced its intention to become a member of BRICS. The international grouping, which has become a kind of symbol of the movement towards the multipolarity of the world, is currently experiencing a real wave of expansion. In addition to its ‘core’ (Russia, Brazil, India, China and the Republic of South Africa), Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia and Egypt have also become its participants since January 1, 2024, and the prospects for expanding membership to the group do not end there.
Not an organisation, but a system
Today, BRICS is an international structure of a rather atypical pattern. Having neither a charter nor permanent bodies, except for the New Development Bank (NDB) – which, by the way, is more correct to consider not a BRICS body, but a separate international association – it is, in fact, not an international organisation. At the same time, it is becoming increasingly difficult to label it just a forum whose activities are not legally binding. BRICS is increasing the number of diverse formats of multilateral cooperation in all areas: from trade to humanitarian, from ties between political parties to the interaction of emergency response services. These ties are becoming permanent and there is a classic expansion of international integration not only in depth, but also in breadth. The interactions between states are becoming more and more systematic, and the openness of the various BRICS formats attracts new and potential future participants.
At the same time, the group’s work objectively lacks supranational coercion, limitations of sovereignty, imposition of development models, obligations to accept foreign norms and values, i.e. everything that the world is used to seeing in most existing international organisations created according to the Western model.
As the initiator of the creation of the group in the days of the RIC and BRIC formats, Russia has put in a large effort to build the grouping throughout its existence. In the words of Russian President Vladimir Putin, BRICS has managed to ensure that such a partnership “not only makes a significant contribution to ensuring the sustainable growth of states, but also generally contributes to improving the global economy and successfully achieving the UN sustainable development goals” and the group itself acts as a “magnet that attracts a lot of countries”.
Throughout its history, the grouping has significantly evolved, and today it is has taken on an updated and modern form. Due to the forum type of interaction........