Government Relations

With the Rise of BRICS, the U.S. Needs a Human Rights Strategy

October 23, 2024 | by Ashley Collins |USA

A general view of flags of (From L to R) South Africa, Brazil, Russia, India and China during the 2023 BRICS Summit at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg on August 24, 2023. (Photo by Michele Spatari / AFP) (Photo by MICHELE SPATARI/AFP via Getty Images)
(MICHELE SPATARI/AFP via Getty Images)

By Ashley Collins, AIUSA’s Multilateral Affairs Fellow

As the BRICS group of countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) meets this week in Kazan, Russia for its annual summit, they are doing so under the theme of “Strengthening Multilateralism for Just Global Development and Security.”

The meeting is the first BRICS summit of the expanded group and is meant to be a space where leaders will primarily focus on economic and financial policy, but may also discuss security and development, among other issues.

The summit is an important opportunity for the United States to rethink its engagement with the group, while centering human rights in its BRICS strategy.

The evolution of BRICS

Originally, BRICS included Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa and remained that way for over a decade.

In 2023, however, the group invited Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates to join. It has therefore grown substantially, even though Argentina decided against joining and Saudi Arabia has not yet formally accepted or rejected the invitation. 40 countries, including many in the Global South, have expressed interest in joining.

The group’s expansion and 2024 summit are significant because they coincide with a shifting multilateral landscape and increasing criticism of the United States’ role in the world.

As my recent Amnesty International USA policy paper outlines, U.S. policy must change to respond to the re-emergence and expansion of BRICS. The U.S. must work to understand why so many nations want to join BRICS and recognize valid criticisms of the current international system and the United States’ outsized role in it. Also, U.S. policy changes should identify ways to partner with Global South countries to address their development needs and advance economic, social, and cultural rights (ESCR).

Increasing Interest in BRICS

BRICS holds particular significance today for several reasons. Many countries want to join BRICS because for some, it provides an appealing alternative to existing multilateral bodies, especially at a time of significant dissatisfaction with these systems and perceived unequal application of international norms. For example, many are frustrated with the international system’s inability to adequately respond to current crises like those in Ukraine and Gaza. In Gaza, the United States has not consistently applied international legal standards, frustrating many countries.

More Influence in Global Decision-Making

Many countries in the Global South seek more influence in international decision-making, as they have often been excluded from positions of power in the traditional multilateral institutions. BRICS, on the other hand, calls for greater representation of emerging markets and developing countries, and the group emphasizes “inclusive multilateralism” as a key message. Some potential members view BRICS as both an informal forum where Global South countries can exert influence and a way to improve their representation in formal multilateral institutions.

Challenge to the United States

Many factors have contributed to increasing global interest in joining BRICS, which can be seen as a challenge to U.S. hegemony in multilateral spaces and the rules-based international order led by the United States and the West.

For example, BRICS countries want to shift reliance from the U.S. dollar to local currencies. BRICS has been working to undermine the power of the dollar for some time, but these efforts appear to have accelerated following Western sanctions on Russia for invading Ukraine. Even if the push to de-dollarize does not succeed, these actions, to some extent, indicate dissatisfaction with the U.S.-dominated global economic order and cannot be dismissed only as an effort to circumvent sanctions for violations of international norms.

More Commitment to Social and Economic Rights

Many Global South countries view BRICS as more committed to economic development, poverty reduction, social and economic rights, and community rights and see the United States as mainly concerned with civil and political rights. Human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent, and interrelated, and narratives on either side that advance one set of rights over another create a false dichotomy, incorrectly suggesting that the promotion of one set of rights must come at the expense of the other.

One concern with the perceived BRICS view is that it may reflect a belief among those countries that economic development might come at the cost of individual freedom, which could undermine certain civil and political rights. On the other hand, the U.S. approach appears to focus less on ESCR and is an inadequate way of fulfilling human rights, with potentially adverse implications for people in the U.S. and other countries. Therefore, a human rights-centered U.S. strategy on BRICS would need to consider these concerns.

Adapting U.S. Policy to a Changing World

Regardless of a growing global interest in joining BRICS, the United States should invest in more inclusive multilateral engagement and meaningfully engage with calls for reform of existing multilateral institutions. These changes would better equip the United States to adapt to an increasingly multipolar world and promote international cooperation on human rights. However, as BRICS countries gather this week in Russia, a country whose government is engaged in a war of aggression against Ukraine with a leader wanted by the ICC for war crimes, the U.S. should reflect on what is driving interest in BRICS and quickly pivot to develop a U.S.-BRICS strategy recognizing the diverse reasons these countries want to join while centering human rights.