As the world grows more fractured, developing countries are looking for new coalitions to stay out of a possible cold war<\/p>\n
The last decade of annual summits held by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (Brics) has rarely merited much attention beyond their own capitals. But last week\u2019s conference<\/a> in Johannesburg, South Africa, is likely to be remembered as a turning point in modern history \u2013 with six large nations joining the current five members. A few dozen<\/a> more states wish to sign up. But the club\u2019s popularity is not a sign that an anti-western bloc is coalescing. \u201cBrics-11\u201d contains two US allies: Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Rather, demand for Brics membership looks more like an expression of concern at the way in which global disorder is growing.<\/p>\n As the world grows more fractured, developing countries are stressing self-reliance and looking for new coalitions to keep their options open. What unites the Brics-11 nations is their view of geopolitics. Since Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine<\/a>, the transatlantic alliance has consolidated, and Moscow and Beijing have drawn closer. Brics members see the world moving towards a cold war-type mentality between a US-led coalition of democracies and a rival grouping of autocracies. This is not something that the leaders in many middle-order countries<\/a> desire. Few would welcome a situation that constrains their political and economic freedom of action, as happened during the decades of Soviet-American rivalry.<\/p>\n