BRICS Democracies Are Losing Leverage

Oliver Stuenkel

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In 2003, India, Brazil, and South Africa established what they called the IBSA Dialogue Forum. The trilateral initiative aimed to promote south-south cooperation, reform global governance structures, and amplify the three democracies’ voices on the international stage. In the years that followed, the leaders of IBSA countries organized regular summits to facilitate collaboration across various sectors.

However, as the BRICS bloc—which initially included Brazil, Russia, India, and China—gained prominence and added South Africa as a member in 2010, IBSA’s activities waned. Though IBSA foreign ministers still organize a yearly meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, where they regularly call for U.N. Security Council reform, the group’s relevance has plummeted.