How BRICS Doubled in Size

The BRICS group of emerging-market nations — the acronym stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — has gone from a slogan dreamed up at an investment bank two decades ago to a real-world club that controls a multilateral lender. It doubled in size at the start of 2024, pairing some of the planet’s largest energy producers with some of the biggest consumers among developing countries and potentially enhancing the group’s economic clout in a US-dominated world.

Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia and Egypt accepted invitations to join starting on Jan. 1. Argentina was invited as well, but President Javier Milei, who took office on Dec. 10, decided against joining. He had indicated during his campaign that he would steer his country’s foreign policy away from China and Brazil, saying, “Our geopolitical alignment is with the United States and Israel. We are not going to ally with communists.”