In Argentina, newly inaugurated president Javier Milei emphasizes the significant role that ideology embodies in politics.
As an economist, television personality, and an express advocate of anarcho-capitalism, Milei campaigned specifically on the endorsement of limited government interference and free-market liberalism.
Milei's aggressive stance extends to international relations as well. Towards the end of 2023,
Milei declined an offer for Argentina to become a member of BRICS, an informal association of nations originally formed by Brazil, Russia, India, and China.
Established in 2009, BRICS, which was just BRIC back then, came into existence as a platform for emerging economies.
The alliance later expanded in 2010 to include South Africa and accommodated several other nations like Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates in 2024.
Majority opinion interprets Milei's refusal to join BRICS as an ideological decision. The unconventional president unapologetically expresses his intention to align with the US and Ukraine, while criticizing Chinese and Brazilian governments, labelling them as "communistic."
"In Milei's perception, foreign policy exists in an absolute dichotomy," explains Bruno Binetti, a non-resident fellow of the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington DC based think tank focusing on affairs within the Western Hemisphere.
"I doubt there was a tactical assessment of the pros and cons of joining BRICS. The decision was likely inspired by ideological beliefs".
However, Milei isn't alone in linking BRICS to principled ideologies. Most members, even encompassing Russia, share his view.
For years, BRICS has maintained its image as an emerging economic powerhouse. The alliance's five members before the expansion contributed 23% to the global GDP and accounted for 18% of global commerce.
However, these figures conceal an inconvenient truth: BRICS has not delivered on its anticipated economic potential.
While India and China's economies have registered continued growth, other members have started drifting behind. As per the IMF, Russia's economy expanded merely 12 percent from 2012 to 2022, a stark decline from a 60-percent growth between 2001 and 2011.
The economies of Brazil and South Africa follow a similar trajectory.
Furthermore, BRICS has yet to establish itself as a prominent power block on a global scale.
Even though individual BRICS nations are substantial contributors to the global market, intra-member trade fails to impress.
Although surging by 56% over the course of the last five years, trade among BRICS nations still falls behind and is primarily driven by China.
Data shows that the total trade imports and exports between Beijing and Brazil mustered $157.5 billion in 2022, whereas trade between South Africa and Brazil managed to scrap only $2.7 billion. But these figures are also relative to members' trade with countries outside the group. Trade between China and Germany garnered a whopping $320 billion in 2022.
Over two decades, BRICS has established its own bank and even devised attempts to build reserves independent of the dollar, euro, or yen.
However, these accomplishments have failed to meet expectations as well. The New Development Bank, a multilateral lending institution established by BRICS, has given approvals for loans amounting to $33 billion since its formation in 2015. But this sum still falls significantly short of its global competitors like the World Bank, which granted loans worth $104 billion in 2022 alone.
Without a uniform trade agreement or consistent economic policy among the group, BRICS' expansion is unlikely to bring about any drastic changes.
At heart, BRICS is still a concept: An alternative vision of an international economic landscape, less reliant on Western Europe and North America. For some members like Russia, this ideological exploitation has evolved into a critical foreign policy tool.
The 'Multipolar World' and Russia
For Russia, the ideological relevance of BRICS is obvious.
Russia repeatedly lauds BRICS as the cornerstone of a long-cherished narrative: a "multipolar world."
Russia envisages this as a world order less circumscribed by established systems and institutions it has been marginalized from due to the illegal invasion of Ukraine, which would allow it to breach international laws with no fear of economic backlash.
