India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev, China's President Hu Jintao, Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff and South Africa's President Jacob Zuma (top L-R) attend a joint news conference during the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit in Sanya, on the southern Chinese island of Hainan, April 14, 2011. (Press Information Bureau of India/Handout /Courtesy Reuters)
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A second tier of middle-income powers is emerging beyond the Brazil, India, China, Russia, and South Africa (BRICS) group. These countries complicate traditional conceptions of East vs. West and developed vs. developing nations. Watch below for my analysis of the global impact of this shift:
- The BRICS have formed a formal group; however, questions remain over whether they will turn their economic clout into political power. Though they align on some issues like the role of the dollar, they collide on others such as the value of democracy.
- Eleven countries outside the BRICS have been identified as the next crop of global powers: Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Nigeria, South Korea, Pakistan, Mexico, the Philippines, Turkey, and Vietnam.
- These nations are all clamoring to reform global institutions and upset traditional divisions of international relations. But are they prepared to assume global responsibilities?
This video is part of The Internationalist, a series dedicated to in-depth discussions about leveraging multilateral cooperation to meet today’s transnational challenges.




Another great piece. You last sentence states that the US should address each of these emerging 11. Are you suggesting the US engage with these states individually? I would assume that a greater reward (for all involved) would be through the WTO in formal global trade partnerships–as opposed to bilateral commitments.
Just found out that greece and Portual and Spain and Italy are OECD members. Ooo…we in India cant wait to receive some development assistance from these super rich countries