Building Blocks of More Just World Order: Meet New BRICS Members

The BRICS bloc announced its first major expansion on Thursday since South Africa joined the grouping of nations in 2010, adding six powerful new members from Latin America, Africa and the Middle East.

Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates joined BRICS on Thursday, adding serious geopolitical and economic muscle to the organization, which will now account for some 37 percent of the world’s gross domestic product (7 percent more than the G7’s 30 percent).

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the new members’ membership will take effect from January 1, 2024, while Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov clarifying that BRICS will keep its old name.

“BRICS, of course, especially the strengthened and expanded one, is one of the leading [load]bearing pillars of what I am sure will be a fair new order based on the principles of the UN Charter,” Lavrov, who is representing Russia in person at the bloc’s summit in Johannesburg, told reporters.

President Ramaphosa confirmed that the admission of new members was but the first phase of the bloc’s expansion plans, with dozens of other nations either applying for or expressing interest in membership.

Experts predict that the new enlarged BRICS will mean “huge challenges” as well as “huge opportunities” for the bloc in the facilitation of trade and economic development, the expanded operation of the New Development Bank, more trade in regional currency, and other forms of cooperation. Other observers, including President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran, say the bloc’s expansion signals the decline of unilateralism, and the US-dominated world order.

Check out Sputnik’s infographic to find out who they are.