The expansion of BRICS from five to 10 members marks a pivotal moment in global governance. At the October 2024 Kazan summit, Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa welcomed Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates, with Indonesia joining in January 2025.
This enlarged coalition commands significant influence, representing 45 per cent of the world’s population and 35 per cent of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
However, BRICS+ expansion presents a fundamental paradox – while enhancing collective leverage against Western institutional dominance, it also introduces challenges to bloc cohesiveness. Diverse strategic priorities, intensified by post-Covid economic dynamics and escalating US-China competition, create centrifugal forces threatening unity.
From a realist standpoint, BRICS+ expansion has amplified tensions among member states pursuing distinct national interests. China views BRICS+ as a vehicle for challenging US hegemony and advancing its Belt and Road Initiative, benefiting in particular from Iran and UAE membership to strengthen Middle Eastern influence and secure energy supply chains that bypass Western sanctions.
Russia’s participation reflects its post-2022 isolation strategy, using BRICS+ to circumvent sanctions and maintain international legitimacy. India maintains strategic hedging, balancing autonomy between China and the United States while expressing concerns about China’s growing dominance. Ongoing China-India border disputes exemplify how bilateral tensions complicate multilateral cooperation.
Brazil seeks to preserve BRICS+ as a platform for emerging market collaboration rather than an anti-Western coalition. The UAE pursues economic diversification while maintaining US security ties, Iran seeks sanctions relief, Egypt aims for regional leadership, Ethiopia focuses on infrastructure development, and Indonesia represents Southeast Asian perspectives.
Post-Covid economic disparities have added to these strains. China’s robust 8 per cent growth in 2024 contrasts with slower recoveries elsewhere, reshaping internal power dynamics. The intensifying US-China rivalry forces members into difficult alignment decisions, with the United States actively courting India through the Quad initiative.
Despite divergent interests, neoliberal institutionalism highlights how mechanisms can create positive-sum outcomes. The New Development Bank (NDB), established in 2015 with US$50 billion capitalisation, has approved over US$30 billion in loans for infrastructure projects across member countries. The Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA), with US$100 billion funding, provides financial safety nets during crises.
BRICS+ expansion has accelerated de-dollarisation initiatives that align with members’ interests in reducing transaction costs and currency risks. The BRICS Pay platform is a significant step forward, while major oil producers like Iran and the UAE create opportunities for local currency energy trade. Central bank cooperation through currency swap agreements and NDB-issued bonds in local currencies demonstrates institutional innovation aimed at reducing dependency on Western-controlled systems.
Expansion also offers opportunities for supply chain integration and technology sharing. Ethiopia’s coffee production, Egypt’s agriculture, Gulf energy resources, and Indonesia’s critical minerals create potential for integrated value chains that can enhance economic resilience and generate efficiency gains.
The institutional framework has shown adaptability under external pressure. US tariffs have spurred BRICS+ innovation, with the NDB expanding local currency lending and member countries fast-tracking bilateral payment agreements. The CRA’s crisis response mechanisms have gained renewed relevance as members face economic volatility from sanctions and tariffs.
Sectoral cooperation has deepened through working groups on energy security, food systems, and technology transfer. Digital infrastructure development, including cross-border payment systems and data-sharing platforms, reduces transaction costs and builds institutional resilience. These mechanisms transform competitive relationships into cooperative frameworks, showing how institutional design can overcome political tensions through economic interdependence and shared benefits.
From a constructivist perspective, shared identity underpins cooperation. BRICS+ expansion has reinforced the bloc’s image as the primary institutional expression of Global South aspirations for a more equitable international order. Including African, Middle Eastern, and Southeast Asian nations strengthens this identity through wider geographical representation.
The bloc’s normative framework emphasises principles resonating across the Global South – sovereign equality, non-interference, mutual respect, and opposition to hegemonic dominance. Strategic autonomy has emerged as a key norm, enabling members to maintain cooperation while preserving flexibility in relations with other powers. Shared experiences of Western sanctions, economic pressure, or diplomatic isolation create a sense of a “community of fate” among many members.
BRICS+ has also developed sophisticated diplomatic mechanisms to construct shared identity. Annual summits provide platforms for articulating shared values, while consensus decision-making reflects procedural norms that shape outcomes. Academic forums and civil society networks create opportunities to develop shared understandings beyond formal diplomacy.
Its approach to managing differences shows constructivist methods in practice – instead of forcing identical positions on contentious issues, BRICS+ applies “respectful disagreement” norms that allow members to maintain different views while preserving cooperation.
BRICS+ expansion is both an opportunity and a challenge for cohesion. Realist analysis points to intensifying tensions as diverse strategic interests clash within an enlarged membership facing post-Covid disparities and US-China rivalry. Institutional mechanisms like the NDB, CRA, and de-dollarisation initiatives can deliver positive-sum outcomes, while a shared Global South identity provides the social glue for cooperation.
The bloc’s future success depends on its ability to manage internal frictions while leveraging institutional innovation. Priorities include win-win strategies that yield tangible benefits, conflict resolution mechanisms, stronger people-to-people ties, and alternative governance frameworks that reflect collective interests.
This expansion comes at a time when the international system is shifting toward multipolarity. Internal challenges are significant, but the bloc’s institutional foundations, shared identity, and economic complementarities offer tools to maintain unity. The key is balancing collective leverage against Western dominance with accommodating diverse member interests, while preventing bilateral disputes from undermining multilateral cooperation.
Colonel Pnb Moh. Apon, S.T., is a member of the Indonesian Armed Forces and currently attending the National Resilience Course in PUSPAHANAS Putrajaya.
The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the writer and do not necessarily represent that of Twentytwo13. Image: Isabela Castilho / BRICS Brasil