Can BRICS Challenge the U.S.? Examining Its Growing Geopolitical Power

BRICS Leaders

At the 2023 Johannesburg Summit, the intergovernmental organization (IGO) BRICS (which stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) welcomed its new members to the organization. Originally an economic bloc, BRICS has recently undergone a slight pivot towards countering Western dominance. On January 1st, 2024, BRICS officially welcomed the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia to the organization. BRICS has also floated the idea of creating a currency with ambitions to rival the US Dollar. This article aims to diagnose the BRICS organization and any risk it may potentially pose to the United States. 

What is BRICS? 

• BRICS is an acronym for a coalition of five major emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Originally dreamed up by a Goldman Sachs economist in 2001 as a purely economic grouping, BRICS has morphed into something far more ambitious: a political project to challenge the American-led world order. This can be seen through the organization’s membership expansion and the possibility of creating its currency. It is important to note that BRICS accounts for about 40% of the world’s population and more than a quarter of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP).  

Internal Friction? 

• Unlike the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), BRICS members do not necessarily share the same interests. For example, China and India are both BRICS nations, but they are geopolitical rivals with disputes over many issues, including territorial friction along their border. Over the past few years, India’s relations with the United States have been on the rise despite its BRICS membership. Also, BRICS members such as Brazil and South Africa have had somewhat friendly relations with the United States, along with relatively neutral stances on global issues. Brazil and South Africa would not look favorably upon a BRICS attempt to challenge the United States as the world’s hegemon. The internal tensions within BRICS are likely to persist, as many new members also have uneasy relations with existing ones. Iran has poor diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia and Egypt, while Egypt has poor relations with Ethiopia.  

Does BRICS have a chance to challenge the West? 

• The question of whether BRICS poses any threats to the West is somewhat hard to answer. Right now, I do not think BRICS poses an urgent threat to the West. At least for the foreseeable future. It is important to note that at the moment, BRICS is an economic pact, not a military alliance like NATO is. As mentioned in the article, there has been talk of BRICS nations creating their own currency, aiming to topple the dollar as the dominant currency. This is a task that is incredibly unlikely to happen for numerous reasons. BRICS countries have far too diverse interests, and any attempt to challenge the United States dollar would elicit a response from the United States. Overall, BRICS has a lot of internal issues that they must iron out before attempting to challenge the United States. As of May 2025, I would predict that with the current geopolitical atmosphere, BRICS is far off from competing with the West.