For two decades, BRICS was often described as a loose association of emerging economies. That description is becoming increasingly outdated. As Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and newer members deepen cooperation across trade, finance, technology, energy and global governance, BRICS is becoming one of the most important experiments in the creation of a more multipolar world.
WORLDATNET FLAGSHIP ANALYSIS
The 2026 BRICS summit in New Delhi has brought the bloc into sharper focus. India is hosting the 18th BRICS Summit under the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.” The expanded grouping now includes 11 full members spanning Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.
The central question is no longer whether BRICS wants a greater voice. It clearly does. The more difficult question is whether the grouping can convert its enormous population, economic weight and natural resources into a coherent alternative to the Western dominated global economic system.
Table of Contents
- 1. BRICS Has Entered a New Phase
- 2. The Numbers Behind BRICS Power
- 3. Why the Global South Matters
- 4. The Challenge to Dollar Dominance
- 5. A World of Local Currency Payments
- 6. India's Strategic Role
- 7. China's Vision for Greater BRICS
- 8. Russia and the Search for a Multipolar Order
- 9. BRICS Enters the Artificial Intelligence Race
- 10. Supply Chains Become Strategic Weapons
- 11. Energy and Critical Minerals
- 12. BRICS Versus the G7
- 13. The Problem Inside BRICS
- 14. What BRICS Means for Pakistan
- 15. Three Possible Futures
- 16. The Real BRICS Challenge
- Key Takeaways
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Conclusion
Facts at a Glance
| Indicator | Current Picture |
|---|---|
| BRICS members | 11 full members |
| Global population represented | About 49.5% |
| Share of global GDP | About 40% |
| Share of global trade | About 26% |
| 2026 chair | India |
| 2027 chair | China |
1. BRICS Has Entered a New Phase
BRICS began as an idea about emerging economic powers. The acronym BRIC was originally coined in 2001 to describe Brazil, Russia, India and China. South Africa joined later, turning BRIC into BRICS.
What began as an economic grouping has gradually become a diplomatic and strategic platform. Its agenda now stretches from development finance and trade to artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, health, energy, climate policy and reform of international institutions.
This evolution is part of a much broader transformation in global affairs. WorldAtNet previously examined the emergence of a new Eurasian economic and strategic bloc. BRICS represents a different but related development: the attempt by emerging powers to gain greater influence over the rules of globalisation.
The expansion has changed the character of the organisation. Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have joined the expanded grouping, creating a coalition that reaches deep into the world's major energy markets, manufacturing centres, consumer markets and strategic trade routes.
That diversity is simultaneously BRICS' greatest strength and its greatest weakness.
2. The Numbers Behind BRICS Power
The scale of BRICS is difficult to ignore. According to India's government, the 11 member grouping represents roughly 49.5 percent of the world's population, around 40 percent of global GDP and approximately 26 percent of global trade.
These numbers do not automatically create political power. But they give BRICS something that smaller diplomatic organisations cannot easily reproduce: enormous markets, energy resources, industrial capacity, food production, mineral reserves and technological capabilities.
China provides much of the manufacturing power. India contributes a huge population, rapidly expanding technology sector and major services economy. Russia remains a major energy and commodity producer. Brazil is an agricultural powerhouse. The Gulf members bring enormous financial and energy resources, while African members provide growing markets and strategic resources.
Together, they create the possibility of an economic network that is less dependent on the traditional centres of Western finance.
3. Why the Global South Matters
One of the most important developments surrounding BRICS is the growing political confidence of the Global South.
For decades, many developing countries had limited influence over the institutions that shaped global finance and trade. The International Monetary Fund, World Bank, major Western financial centres and other institutions emerged from an international system in which Western economies possessed disproportionate influence.
BRICS does not necessarily seek to destroy those institutions. Instead, its members increasingly argue that the system should give emerging economies a larger voice.
That distinction matters.
The emerging BRICS model is less about replacing every Western institution overnight and more about building additional options. Development banks, local currency settlements, alternative payment mechanisms, technology partnerships and stronger South South trade can gradually reduce dependence on any single economic centre.
The New Development Bank, created by BRICS, is an important example of this approach. It was designed to mobilise resources for infrastructure and sustainable development in emerging economies.
4. The Challenge to Dollar Dominance
Perhaps no issue attracts more attention than the future of the US dollar.
The dollar remains deeply embedded in global trade, investment, banking and central bank reserves. Replacing it would require enormous financial infrastructure, trust and liquidity. BRICS is nowhere near achieving that.
But replacing the dollar completely is not necessarily the immediate objective.
The more realistic strategy is diversification.
If countries can increasingly trade with one another using their own currencies, connect domestic payment systems and expand financial institutions outside traditional Western networks, they can reduce their exposure to currency risk and financial sanctions.
The International Monetary Fund continues to report the dollar's central role in the international monetary system. That makes the BRICS push for greater financial diversification significant even if it does not produce an immediate replacement for the dollar.
The debate should therefore not be reduced to the question of whether BRICS will launch a common currency. The more important question is whether international trade can gradually become less dependent on a single dominant currency.
5. A World of Local Currency Payments
The financial battlefield may therefore be less dramatic than headlines about a new BRICS currency suggest.
Instead of one common currency, BRICS members are exploring ways to make existing national currencies easier to use in cross border commerce. India has also promoted greater interoperability between digital payment and central bank digital currency systems.
The logic is straightforward. If a Brazilian company can buy from China, an Indian company can trade with Russia and a Gulf company can invest in Asia without routing every transaction through the same Western financial channels, the global financial system becomes more diversified.
India has increasingly emphasised practical payment connectivity rather than immediately creating a single BRICS currency. This approach may ultimately prove more realistic because it allows countries to retain monetary sovereignty.
The Bank for International Settlements has also highlighted the importance of cross border payment interoperability and digital currency infrastructure, making this one of the most important areas to watch as BRICS develops its financial agenda.
6. India's Strategic Role
India may be the most important balancing power inside BRICS.
New Delhi has strong economic relationships with the United States and Europe while simultaneously maintaining strategic ties with Russia and deepening economic relations with China.
India therefore has little interest in turning BRICS into an explicitly anti Western alliance.
Instead, India appears to favour a multipolar system in which developing countries have greater freedom to choose their partners. This approach allows New Delhi to benefit from Western technology and investment while also expanding cooperation with emerging economies.
India's 2026 BRICS presidency reflects this philosophy. Its stated theme of resilience, innovation, cooperation and sustainability places practical development at the centre of the grouping's agenda.
The official Government of India's BRICS information highlights the bloc's growing economic scale and the importance of cooperation among developing economies.
That could become one of BRICS' most important transformations: moving from a political statement about Western dominance toward practical economic cooperation.
7. China's Vision for Greater BRICS
China has the largest economy and industrial base inside BRICS and therefore possesses enormous influence over the direction of the organisation.
At the 2026 New Delhi summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for stronger economic, political and security cooperation among the expanded grouping. China also proposed a BRICS AI Open Source Zone and initiatives aimed at strengthening supply chains and economic integration.
This is significant because China's BRICS strategy is increasingly moving beyond traditional trade.
Artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, manufacturing networks, cloud platforms and technology standards could become as important to the future of BRICS as oil and commodities once were.
WorldAtNet recently examined the risks surrounding the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence in global markets in Can AI Trigger the Next Financial Crisis?. The BRICS AI agenda adds another dimension to that story: AI is becoming not only an economic technology but also a geopolitical asset.
If BRICS countries begin sharing AI infrastructure, digital platforms and technological expertise, the organisation could evolve into a much deeper economic ecosystem.
8. Russia and the Search for a Multipolar Order
Russia views BRICS through a strongly geopolitical lens.
Western sanctions and the restructuring of Russia's trade since 2022 have encouraged Moscow to deepen economic relationships with China, India, Iran and other non Western partners.
For Russia, BRICS represents evidence that the global system is becoming less centred on Washington and Brussels.
But Moscow's ambitions do not necessarily represent the interests of every BRICS member. India, Brazil, the Gulf states and several other countries have little desire to transform BRICS into a military or ideological alliance.
This distinction is important because BRICS is fundamentally an economic and diplomatic platform rather than a conventional military alliance.
9. BRICS Enters the Artificial Intelligence Race
The most interesting new frontier may be artificial intelligence.
The global AI competition has largely been framed around the United States and China. But emerging economies increasingly want access to AI infrastructure without becoming permanently dependent on either technological ecosystem.
The BRICS AI agenda could create opportunities for shared research, open source models, computing infrastructure, data governance and AI education.
The 2026 New Delhi Declaration recognises AI as a major driver of economic growth and calls for international cooperation around safety, accessibility, reliability, innovation and energy efficiency.
This could become extremely important for developing countries. AI has the potential to increase productivity in agriculture, manufacturing, education, healthcare and government services. But access to advanced computing remains concentrated in a relatively small number of countries and companies.
If BRICS can build shared AI capacity, it could turn technology cooperation into one of the strongest pillars of the emerging economic order.
10. Supply Chains Become Strategic Weapons
The pandemic, the war in Ukraine, technology restrictions and repeated trade disputes have transformed the meaning of supply chains.
Companies once searched mainly for the cheapest production location. Governments now increasingly ask a different question: what happens if that supply chain is suddenly interrupted?
BRICS has enormous potential in this area because its members control important parts of global commodity and manufacturing networks.
China dominates many manufacturing sectors. India is expanding electronics and pharmaceutical production. Brazil is a major food producer. Russia remains important in energy and commodities. Gulf states control critical energy infrastructure and investment capital. African members bring minerals and developing consumer markets.
A more integrated BRICS supply chain could reduce dependence on Western markets while simultaneously creating new opportunities for trade among developing economies.
This trend is closely connected to the wider transformation of global trade. WorldAtNet has previously examined how technology and trade are becoming weapons in the new economic competition.
11. Energy and Critical Minerals
Energy gives BRICS another strategic advantage.
Several members are among the world's most important oil and gas producers, while others possess significant mineral, agricultural and industrial resources.
The future, however, is not only about oil.
The energy transition is creating enormous demand for lithium, copper, nickel, rare earth elements and other critical minerals. These resources are increasingly connected to batteries, electric vehicles, renewable energy systems, robotics and advanced electronics.
The countries able to control these supply chains will possess economic influence far beyond their traditional energy sectors.
This is one reason why the competition over critical resources is becoming inseparable from the competition over technology.
WorldAtNet has also examined the strategic transformation of energy routes in its analysis of the Strait of Hormuz and the global energy system. BRICS adds another layer to this discussion because several members sit at the centre of global energy flows.
12. BRICS Versus the G7
It is tempting to describe BRICS and the G7 as competing blocs. The reality is more complicated.
The G7 consists of advanced industrial democracies with deep financial markets, technological leadership and strong institutional links. BRICS is far more diverse. Its members have different political systems, security priorities, economic models and foreign policy objectives.
Yet the comparison is still revealing.
The G7 represents the traditional centre of Western economic power. BRICS represents the rising weight of emerging economies.
The most important contest may therefore not be about which group defeats the other. It may be about who gets to write the rules of the global economy.
Trade standards, digital regulations, financial architecture, artificial intelligence governance, energy markets and development finance could all become areas of competition between different visions of globalisation.
The G20 remains another important forum because it includes both major developed and emerging economies. The future international system may therefore be shaped by overlapping institutions rather than a simple BRICS versus G7 confrontation.
13. The Problem Inside BRICS
BRICS has enormous potential, but it is not a unified superpower.
India and China have unresolved strategic tensions. Iran and the Gulf states have their own competing interests. Russia's confrontation with the West creates geopolitical pressures that many other members would prefer to avoid.
Brazil and South Africa have different priorities from China and Russia. Smaller members may see BRICS primarily as an economic opportunity rather than an ideological project.
There is also the question of China's enormous economic weight.
If one country becomes too dominant inside an organisation designed to challenge concentrated power, BRICS could reproduce the same imbalance it criticises in the existing international system.
That is why BRICS' future depends on institutional balance.
14. What BRICS Means for Pakistan
For Pakistan, the rise of BRICS is strategically significant even though Pakistan is not one of the bloc's 11 full members.
Pakistan sits between major economic and geopolitical centres. Its relationships with China, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states, Russia and Western markets give it a natural interest in a more diversified global economy.
Greater BRICS cooperation could create opportunities for Pakistani exporters, technology companies, agricultural producers and infrastructure projects if access to expanding markets improves.
Pakistan could also benefit from stronger regional connectivity linking South Asia with Central Asia, China, the Middle East and Africa.
But there is a warning.
Pakistan should not treat BRICS as a replacement for its Western economic relationships. The smarter strategy would be diversification rather than choosing one camp against another.
A multipolar world rewards countries capable of maintaining multiple economic partnerships.
15. Three Possible Futures
Scenario One: BRICS Becomes a Genuine Economic Alternative
In this scenario, members successfully integrate payment systems, increase local currency trade, expand the New Development Bank, coordinate supply chains and build shared AI infrastructure.
The dollar remains important, but BRICS countries become much less dependent on Western financial infrastructure.
Scenario Two: BRICS Remains a Powerful but Loose Coalition
This may be the most realistic outcome.
Members cooperate where interests overlap but continue pursuing independent foreign policies. BRICS becomes an important diplomatic and economic platform without becoming a unified alternative to the Western system.
Scenario Three: Internal Rivalries Limit BRICS
China's dominance, India China tensions, geopolitical disputes and different economic interests could prevent deeper integration.
In this scenario, BRICS remains influential but never develops the institutional coherence necessary to transform the international system.
16. The Real BRICS Challenge
The biggest mistake would be to judge BRICS only by whether it can create a common currency or defeat the dollar.
That is too narrow.
The deeper transformation is already visible in the growing ability of emerging economies to coordinate their economic interests.
They want more control over trade routes, financial systems, technology, energy resources, supply chains and international institutions. They want development finance that reflects their priorities. They want greater representation in global decision making. And they increasingly want alternatives when existing institutions do not serve their interests.
The 2026 BRICS summit demonstrates how broad this agenda has become. AI, digital infrastructure, local currencies, supply chains, development finance and global governance are now connected within the same conversation.
That does not mean the Western led order is collapsing.
The United States remains the world's most powerful financial centre, the dollar remains dominant and Western economies continue to possess enormous technological and institutional advantages.
But global power does not need to move from one centre to another in a single dramatic event.
It can become distributed gradually.
That may be the real BRICS revolution.
Key Takeaways
- BRICS has evolved from a small emerging market grouping into a major Global South platform.
- The expanded 11 member bloc represents roughly half of the world's population and around 40 percent of global GDP.
- BRICS is not currently a single unified economic or military alliance.
- The most realistic challenge to dollar dominance is greater use of local currencies and alternative payment infrastructure.
- India is attempting to balance BRICS cooperation with strong relationships with the United States and Europe.
- China is pushing BRICS toward deeper economic, technological and AI cooperation.
- Artificial intelligence could become one of the bloc's most important future areas of cooperation.
- Supply chains and critical minerals are becoming central elements of economic security.
- BRICS faces serious internal divisions, particularly over China India strategic competition and differing foreign policy priorities.
- For countries such as Pakistan, diversification rather than choosing one geopolitical camp may offer the greatest economic advantage.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is BRICS?
BRICS is a grouping of major emerging and developing economies originally formed around Brazil, Russia, India and China, with South Africa later joining. The expanded grouping now has 11 full members.
Is BRICS trying to replace the US dollar?
BRICS members are working to increase the use of local currencies and improve cross border payment systems. A common BRICS currency is not currently the central practical objective. Reducing dependence on the dollar is more realistic than replacing it completely.
How powerful is BRICS?
The expanded BRICS grouping represents approximately 49.5 percent of the world's population, around 40 percent of global GDP and about 26 percent of global trade according to Indian government figures.
Who is the most powerful country in BRICS?
China is the largest economic and manufacturing power within BRICS, but India, Russia, Brazil and the Gulf members each provide important strategic capabilities. BRICS does not have a single leader in the way a conventional alliance might.
Does BRICS have a common currency?
No. BRICS members have discussed financial cooperation and alternatives to dollar based settlement, but a single common currency is not currently the core mechanism of BRICS cooperation.
What does BRICS mean for Pakistan?
BRICS could create opportunities for Pakistan through trade diversification, investment, technology cooperation and stronger connections with Asian, Middle Eastern and African markets. Pakistan would benefit most from maintaining diverse relationships rather than depending exclusively on one economic bloc.
Can BRICS replace the G7?
BRICS is not a direct replacement for the G7. The two groups have very different structures and political systems. The more significant development is the emergence of a more multipolar international economy in which BRICS countries have a larger role.
Conclusion: The World Is Becoming More Multipolar
The rise of BRICS does not mean that the Western economic order is about to disappear. Nor does it guarantee that China, India, Russia and their partners will build a unified alternative.
What is changing is more subtle and potentially more important.
The world's emerging powers increasingly possess the economic weight, technology, energy resources and political confidence to demand a larger role in determining the rules of globalisation.
BRICS is becoming one of the main platforms through which that ambition is expressed.
The organisation's success will ultimately depend on whether its members can turn political declarations into practical institutions. If they can improve payment systems, strengthen development finance, build resilient supply chains, cooperate on AI and expand trade among themselves, BRICS could become a permanent pillar of a multipolar world.
If internal rivalries prevent that cooperation, BRICS will remain influential but fragmented.
Either way, the age in which global economic power could be understood primarily through the relationship between the United States and its traditional allies is becoming harder to sustain.
The future global economy may not have one centre.
It may have several.
WORLDATNET EDITORIAL VERDICT
BRICS is unlikely to replace the Western economic system in one dramatic move. Its greater significance is that it is helping build alternatives around trade, finance, technology and development. The real story is not the disappearance of the old order, but the emergence of a more contested and multipolar one.
Further Reading on WorldAtNet
- The Making of a New Eurasian Bloc
- The New Cold War: Technology, Trade and Geopolitics
- The World Is Entering a New Age of Weaponized Economics
- China Opens the Arctic Ice Silk Road
- The Strait of Hormuz: Inside the World's Most Dangerous Oil Chokepoint
Authoritative Sources
- Government of India
- Reuters: Xi pushes greater BRICS economic ties
- Reuters: India and BRICS digital currency cooperation
- International Monetary Fund
- Bank for International Settlements
Editorial Note: This WorldAtNet analysis incorporates developments surrounding the 2026 BRICS Summit in New Delhi. Economic and geopolitical conditions can change rapidly. The article distinguishes between established developments and longer term scenarios and does not suggest that BRICS has already replaced the existing Western financial order.
0 Comments