Grouping at a crossroad of multipolarity

As the international order transitions from Western unipolarity to an era of renewed multipolarity, BRICS — now expanded and re-energized — finds itself at a pivotal historical juncture. No longer simply an acronym for five emerging economies, BRICS+ is increasingly aspiring to become the principal platform through which the Global South asserts its voice, defines its interests, and proposes alternative paradigms of global governance. But with greater ambition comes a heavier burden: the need for internal coherence, institutional maturity and strategic clarity.

The lesson from the G77 is instructive: aspirations alone do not produce outcomes. Institutional weakness allowed the G77 to be outmaneuvered. BRICS+ must heed this warning and move decisively toward institutional consolidation. The creation of a BRICS+ secretariat, a council of ministers, and dedicated mechanisms for coordination across key areas — energy, technology, trade, development finance and healthcare — are not bureaucratic luxuries, but prerequisites for political viability.

BRICS+ must maintain the integrity of its founding political and economic agenda. Restructuring of the international financial architecture, greater South-South cooperation, and the establishment of alternative financing tools remain central to the grouping's raison d'être. These are not outdated slogans but still-unmet demands in a system that continues to marginalize the majority world. BRICS' expansion should not dilute these priorities. Instead, it must elevate them, backed by a chorus of increasingly assertive voices from Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.