On June 16, 2009, four of the most influential world leaders met in Yekaterinburg, Russia, discussing affairs ranging from the global financial state to climate change. Both during and after the conference, the leaders posed for pictures, symbolically clasping their hands together to show the diplomatic ties and foreign relationships being forged. 

Strangely, the United States was not represented in any way during the conference. In fact, no modern “Western power,” such as the United Kingdom, France, or Germany, was involved in the meeting. 

The four major leaders were Dmitry Medvedev, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Hu Jintao, and Manmohan Singh, the then-presidents or prime ministers of Russia, Brazil, China, and India, respectively. At the time, the United States and the rest of the world were recovering from the Great Recession, a two-year period of economic decline that caused financial crises. As a result, the little American media coverage about the confluence of these countries focused mainly on the global economy, not political or international ties. However, this conference would foreshadow the changing political landscape of the world for the next decade. 

The acronym “BRIC” was first created in 2001 by Jim O’Neill, an economist for Goldman Sachs. Referring to the countries with greater economic potential and development in the 21st century, BRIC stands for the countries Brazil, Russia, India, and China. In 2009, the four countries met with the focus of improving the world economy, especially the economy of smaller developing countries. Later, in 2010, South Africa was accepted into the consolidation, creating the “BRICS” known today. BRICS has met fifteen times since the first official meeting in 2009, with the latest meeting taking place this year from August 23rd-24th. 

In all of the BRICS’ summits, the crux of the meetings is clear: to level the political and economic playing field. Historically speaking, Western countries, especially the United States, have controlled the world economy. It is evident that BRICS wishes to change this, as seen in their efforts over the past twenty years. For instance, in 2014, the New Development Bank was established by BRICS. According to its website, the bank was created with “the purpose of mobilizing resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in emerging markets and developing countries.” The most recent and arguably significant action in furthering global economic equality, however, took place in the 2022 virtual summit, where a new global currency was proposed by BRICS to serve as an opposition to the prominence of the US dollar in the world economy. 

With this being said, it is improbable that BRICS will be enforcing this new economic control anytime soon. The summit is plagued by geographic and political tensions between the countries. China and India, for example, have fought a border crisis with each other for the last few decades. For this reason, most American coverage of the BRICS summits has consisted of assurances that the conference is not a threat and analysis of the issues sustained within the countries participating. 

However, it would be a grave mistake for Western powers to write off BRICS as they have been so quick to do in the past. Economic developments are taking place in a world filled with international tensions, from the US sanctions on Russia to rising concerns about China’s trade control. Recent BRICS conventions have garnered more media and international attention than ever before, even in the US. If the influx of news is not enough, the interest of many other countries in joining BRICS should cause alarm. In the August 2023 summit, Saudi Arabia and Iran, two countries that play a crucial role in the modern oil and petroleum industry, were officially invited to join the consolidation. With so many developing countries showing the desire to join BRICS, the international power scene of today is quickly transforming into one where Western powers, including the US, may lose the influence they have clung to for the previous century. Although it may take a while, a new world order is dawning, and it may be one that doesn’t include the United States. 

Information retrieved from the Library of Congress, New Development Bank, Wikipedia, and The New York Times