Los Angeles/DNA - The expansion of the BRICS group of nations into what has informally been named BRICS+ could highlight a geopolitical shift, with the new grouping positioning itself as a counterpoint to the Western-led geopolitical order, a report published by the Luskin School of Public Affairs at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) argues.
The report, titled "Towards A New Global Contestation? Comparing the Governance Performance of G7 and BRICS+ Nations", examines how the ten BRICS+ countries compare to the G7 nations on factors such as provision of public goods, the quality of democracy or the quality of governance. It uses the Berggruen Governance Index (BGI) to measure the governance performance of countries in these three dimensions.
In early 2024, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) joined the BRICS group. The term BRICS was coined by an economist in the 2000s to refer to a group of emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and later, South Africa.
The BRICS+ members have a much larger combined population, which, at a rate of 7.8 percent by 2025, is expected to grow twice as much as in the G7 countries. At the same time, economic output and per capita GDP in the BRICS+ nations are lower than in the G7 (United States, Germany, France, Japan, Canada, Italy and the United Kingdom). The latter organisation also boasts greater soft power.
According to the report, improvements in the provision of public goods have been significant in some BRICS+ countries, even as state capacity and democratic accountability have declined. The BRICS+ countries, the authors conclude, appear increasingly susceptible to authoritarian rule. At the same time, the quality of democracy according to the BGI index has declined in India, Brazil (during the rule of President Jair Bolsonaro) and China, with authoritarian trends persisting particularly in China, Russia and Saudi Arabia.
The report's findings also indicate that most BRICS+ members do not seek more confrontation with the G7. Instead, they engage in a strategy that mixes cooperation and contestation. They seek to take advantage of opportunities that emerge during these uncertain geopolitical conditions while mitigating risks.
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