A lot of Brics but no mortar

BRICS – the acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – is all the rage on the international scene these days. With six new countries – Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Ethiopia and Argentina – slated to join the group, some predict that, especially with Beijing leading the way, the bloc will soon rival the industrialised West and transform the international system.

The current hype about Brics recalls the Cold War era, when many expected the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), consisting of members that were not allied with either the United States or the Soviet Union, to become a major force in international relations.

It was said that the elites that ruled the European powers were trying to perpetuate a global status quo that benefitted their interests and not those of the developing nations. These nations were going to press these industrialised economies to provide them with more access to the world’s economic resources.