On January 1st, Brazil officially assumes the rotating presidency of the BRICS economic bloc, originally comprised of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The nation faces the challenge of leading the bloc in its first year with five new members. The leadership rotates among BRICS members according to the acronym — Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. With the addition of the new members, a new format for the presidency rotation will be discussed.
The countries joining the bloc this year are Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Iran, and Ethiopia. Their invitation was formalized in the Johannesburg Declaration, a document agreed upon by the bloc members. These nations were invited to join the economic bloc from among 20 applicants.
In this expanded format, BRICS now represents nearly half of the world’s population, 36% of the global Gross…
