A comparative analysis of the membership of Brazil and South Africa to BRICS

Abstract

This study compares the contribution of Brazil and South Africa towards BRICS (Brazil, India, China, South Africa). Both Brazil and South Africa are countries from the global south and they are both among the leading economic developing powers on their respective continents. Both countries have been facing similar problems; in 2016 the former Brazilian president (Dilma Rousseff) was impeached for corruption at the same time political opposition in South Africa were calling for the removal of its previous president Jacob Zuma. Both countries have the same goal of decentralising global power and bringing about a new world order wherein international power in the United Nation’s, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund is more fairly distributed between the developed and rich northern nations, and the poorer developing countries of the South. Brazil and South Africa also form part of IBSA (India, Brazil, South Africa), which is an established trilateral initiative comprised of India, Brazil and South Africa, which promotes South-South cooperation (SSC) and the transformation of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organisation (WTO). A comparison, using the theories of international relations would explain the political and economic contributions of South Africa and Brazil to BRICS and the importance thereof for the countries involved and the alliance.