THE BRICS COUNTRIES: STRIDES TOWARD GREATER REPRESENTATION IN INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

Abstract

This thesis discusses the BRICS organization and its recent creation of the New Development Bank to serve as an alternative to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. It also addresses the various attempts by the BRICS countries to work together to increase their soft power in the fields of technology infrastructure, academics, sport, and regional trade agreements. The efficacy of these projects varies significantly, but BRICS seems to be more successful in its projects that are more internationally visible. The thesis continues on to discuss the recently-formed New Development Bank and the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement, the role they might play in global finance, and the reactions of the World Bank and the IMF. This thesis concludes with the prediction that the BRICS grouping will survive as an organization and might even expand depending on the policy decisions of the BRICS governments, especially China. The increased presence and influence of the BRICS countries in international institutions will require countries in the West to reconsider their attitudes and actions towards the BRICS. This thesis draws from and engages with the work of economists who have written about the BRICS including Jim O’Neill, Padraig Carmody, Iulia Monica Oehler-Şincai, William Gumede, Leslie Elliot Armijo, and Cynthia Roberts.