China accounts for 70 per cent of BRICS output, while the economies of Brazil, Russia and South Africa have grown by less than 1 per cent annually over the past decade
ALAMY
The Brics club of emerging nations, which once imagined itself as the future engine of global growth, is floundering but still hopes to supersize itself into a coherent challenger to the West. A summit in Johannesburg today will determine whether this is just a pipe dream or part of a serious attempt by China and Russia to organise resistance to American influence in the global south.
When the Brics — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — was founded in 2009-10 it seemed to be an interesting attempt to harness economic potential and reshape political governance to include and amplify their voices. It was an alternative to what has become the G7, viewed as a vehicle for western rule-setting. However, as BRICS begins its
