Why 2024 was a watershed year for the rise of BRICS

As 2024 draws to a close, the remarkable expansion of BRICS stands out as the biggest geopolitical story of the year.

BRICS has informally been on the horizon of world politics since the mid-2000s. But this year, the bloc’s dawn made way for a spectacular sunrise, promising a fairer multipolar world order.

It was sparked by an unprecedented jump in the bloc’s membership, partner base, and global following.

Significantly, this year’s BRICS sunrise has expedited the sunset of the US-led G7 grouping’s hegemony in world politics.

For those who missed the changing of the tide that got buried under other headlines – Gaza, Ukraine, US elections, and Syria – 2024 is a watershed year for BRICS.

Events throughout the year showed that the world order is finally shifting towards a balanced geopolitical landscape. And 2024 might have spelt the endgame for the imperialist tendencies of a small clique of US-led Western countries.

The year set the stage for an open, just, and equitable world order headed democratically by Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa – the original BRICS line-up – and the bloc’s new members and new partner countries.

Beeline for BRICS

A quick look at the timeline of events shows why 2024 is a turning point for world politics.

On January 1, four more nations – Egypt, the UAE, Iran, and Ethiopia – formally joined BRICS, pushing the bloc’s membership up from five to nine.

Then October marked a whole new milestone for the grouping when BRICS invited a dozen countries to become ‘partner nations’ – Algeria, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

The announcement was made on the sidelines of the 16th BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, which was attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Significantly, Türkiye – a key NATO member – was also offered BRICS partner status, while Erdogan said Türkiye's developing ties with the BRICS group are not an alternative to its existing engagements, such as NATO membership and EU candidacy.

Confirming the offer in mid-November, Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat said, “As for Türkiye’s status regarding [BRICS] membership, they offered Türkiye the status of partner membership. This [partner status] is the transition process in the organisational structure of BRICS.”

Clearly, many countries lined up to engage with BRICS this year, some as full members and some as partner nations.

To add to that, it had already been reported earlier that at least 40 countries were interested in joining the bloc.

Two messages for the West

The BRICS growth story marched on after that. Two recent developments further underlined how keen the bloc is to bring positive change in a world where the imperialist shadow of the US-led West is shrinking.

One is a symbolic move to create a global alternative to the US dollar. The other is a push for international collaboration on AI development beyond the close-knit Western fold.

During the 2024 BRICS summit in Kazan, the leaders ceremoniously unveiled a symbolic ‘BRICS currency note’.

The flags of the initial BRICS members are embossed on the banknote. Although it’s not a functional currency, the unveiling marked BRICS’s spirited aspiration to explore alternatives to the dollar, often seen as a tool used by the US to dominate the world economy.

Though a BRICS currency becoming a reality appears premature, the very idea signifies the aspirations of the members to find a way out of the dollar dominance.

Amid growing talk of ‘de-dollarising’ international trade, the BRICS banknote’s unveiling surely ruffled a few feathers at G7.

Especially after October 23, when BRICS officially endorsed settling cross-border payments in local currencies. The bloc wants to create an economic system that won’t rely on US-controlled financial vehicles such as SWIFT, a Western payment mechanism.

The other development that couldn’t have gone down well with G7 occurred on December 11.

While attending a conference in Moscow on artificial intelligence, Putin said Russia would collaborate with BRICS and other nations to develop AI. The stated aim is to build an alternative to the prevailing trend of the US alone trying to dominate the new technology.

G7 vs. BRICS: Changing reality

With BRICS quickly expanding its footprint worldwide, the question arises – what does it really mean for G7 to lose ground to BRICS?

The changing reality is as grim for G7 as it is exciting for BRICS.

G7, or the Group of Seven, is a de facto club of the so-called seven most advanced economies, comprising the US, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and Italy. It also includes the EU, an economic bloc of 27 European countries.

Piloted by Washington, G7 has for years been trying to shape international relations, the global economy, and the media narrative while rarely acknowledging the contributions of other powers such as China, Russia, Türkiye, and India.

Fast forward to now, the power dynamics have changed. G7 is steadily losing steam and teeth – something unthinkable a decade ago. In 1990, G7’s share of the global GDP was 66 percent and it remained high for several years.

Back then, the US-led West could arbitrarily start wars, intervene in non-aligned nations’ domestic affairs, and deploy the World Bank and IMF to poor countries.

Things changed over time. In 2022, G7’s global GDP share fell to 44 percent.

Notice that since US troops pulled out of Afghanistan in 2021, Washington hasn’t started any new wars. It hasn’t shown the capability to peacefully resolve conflict and chaos in Ukraine, Gaza, Syria and Yemen.

Why BRICS is different

In stark contrast, BRICS’s share of the global GDP climbed to 37 percent. Yet, despite its growing hold on the world economy, the bloc has hardly shown tendencies of starting wars or carrying out interventions.

This balanced approach is possible because BRICS is a far more decentralised group of governments with diverse geopolitical outlooks and pacifist foreign policies, as compared to imperialism-focused G7.

Heading into 2025, G7 has some soul-searching to do. The BRICS fold, now referred to as BRICS+ following its expansion, is home to about 40 percent of the world’s population.

Its countries have abundant natural resources that G7 nations can’t ignore. And the bloc spans massive consumer markets that MNCs from G7 countries rely on.

While the Ukraine war, the Gaza crisis, Donald Trump’s election win, and mayhem in Syria are hogging the headlines, the silent rise of BRICS clearly goes down as one of the biggest turnaround stories of the year.