"Brics Summit: A Rising Bloc Challenging US Leadership?"
The expansion of the Brics club of emerging economies, consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, with the addition of six new countries, including Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, has raised questions about the emergence of a new bloc to rival US leadership. While the Brics members may not have much in common on the surface, Chinese President Xi Jinping sees the expansion as a way to counter Western dominance and offer an alternative world order. However, the US downplayed the expansion, stating that the Brics countries' divergence of views on critical issues prevents it from becoming a geopolitical rival. The expansion represents a shift in global norms and institutions, but it is seen more as complementarity rather than a replacement for US leadership.