Western mainstream media and pundits have long derided BRICS as an awkward mishmash of different economies and cultures with little in common. For the past decade and a half, their echo chambers assured us that BRICS was very little to do about nothing. But now, as BRICS has come of age, as it has begun to provide what many view as both a shared philosophy and practical framework for advancing a more equitable and multipolar world order, and with more than 40 countries reportedly seeking membership, the talk in Washington, London and elsewhere has shifted predictably.
Indeed, now that BRICS is no longer easily dismissed by its naysayers, it’s being recast by some in the West as a “Sino-centric conspiracy,” one that wants to align what have been described as the “mostly authoritarian” governments of the Global South against the democratic countries
