Geopolitical Maps

BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) is a group of emerging economies that was created in 2010, reflecting changes in the global economy after the Great Recession. What started out as a dialogue for less wealthy countries that were seeing their economies rapidly grow has since turned into virtually an anti G7 bloc, the group of rich, democratic superpowers that comprise a large share of the world’s economy.

The G7, which is composed of Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, the European Union, and most importantly the United States, has long dominated world trade and transactions. In fact, over 90% of all transactions in the entire world are completed using US Dollars. BRICS, some of whose members have sought to try to undermine the US Dollar’s status as a fiat currency, has pushed for a sort of BRICS Euro, for the countries in it.

BRICS also seeks to expand. Six new countries have been slated to join by 2024 (Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt.) It’s important to note that BRICS includes both liberal democracies (e.g. Argentina) and autocratic pariah states (e.g. Iran). More countries have officially applied for BRICS membership, to try to gain favor from the big players (India, China, and Russia) and distance themselves from the US economy.