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The World Ahead | Politics in 2024

The BRICS are expanding

They will host their biggest-ever summit in 2024

President of Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, President of China Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov pose for a photo during the 2023 BRICS Summit.
Image: Getty Images

By John McDermott

When the BRICS meet in Russia in October 2024 they will need a bigger stage than ever. Leaders of the five countries that gave their name to the bloc—Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa—will be joined by those from an additional six. The admission of Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates will reflect how geopolitics is changing: the world is becoming more multipolar and middle powers more assertive in challenging the Western-led order. But the summit will also show the limits of what a heterogeneous “global south” can achieve.

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition of The World Ahead 2024 under the headline “More BRICS in the wall”

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