BRICS is back. The five-nation group that comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa held its fourth summit last week, convening in New Delhi to present their collective views on global problems. While their opinions are increasingly relevant given their growing weight and influence on international affairs, they would be more compelling if they could agree on more than a critique of the existing international order. Not surprisingly, solutions remain beyond their grasp.
BRIC — without South Africa — was first identified in 2001 by Goldman Sachs analyst Jim O'Neill. The acronym was designed to capture the emerging economies that were thought to be driving world economic growth. At that time, the four countries ranged over a quarter of the earth, had about 40 percent of the world's population and a combined GDP in excess of $18 trillion. Mr. O'Neill reckoned that they would become the four leading economies by 2050. He updated his analysis three years later, concluding that the number of people within BRIC countries who had an annual income exceeding $3,000 would double within three years, reaching 800 million within a decade. The number of people earning more than $15,000 was expected to exceed 200 million. That is a huge and potentially powerful middle class.
BRIC emerged as a political entity when Russia hosted a summit in 2009. At the meeting, the heads of state agreed that their countries — along with other developing and emerging economies — deserved more say in global governance. South Africa applied to join the group the next year, and the upper-case "S" was added to the acronym in 2011 when President Jacob Zuma attended the summit in Sanya, China, in April 2011.