After the landmark 15th BRICS Summit in August 2023, foreign policy analysts raised concerns that BRICS — a grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa at the time — may be seeking to construct an alternate world order and upend Western-led global governance. Before the 2023 BRICS Summit, 40 countries expressed interest in joining the group and 23 formally applied. In 2024, the group welcomed five new members — Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The expansion of BRICS prompts speculation about the direction of the group’s mobilisation and possible alternatives to the ... (full story)