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This episode is brought to you by Jack Daniels.
Jack Daniels and music are made for each other.
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Why is the bricks block expanding?
Thanks for asking.
The 15th annual BRICS summit took place in Johannesburg in August 2023.
Russia was represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, as President Vladimir Putin is subject to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for war crimes committed in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Putin did nevertheless participate remotely.
The most noteworthy development was the announcement by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa that six new member countries would be joining the BRICS as of January 2024, in a move called a push to reshuffle the world order by Reuters.
The term BRIC was originally coined as an acronym for the countries of Brazil Russia, India and China.
Goldman Sachs economist, Jim O'Neill, came up with it in 2001, predicting that those four fast-growing economies would dominate the global economy by the middle of the 21st century.
It wasn't until 2009 though, that the bloc actually held its first summit as an intergovernmental organisation.
Following years of high-level meetings, it took place in Yekaterinburg Russia, on June 16th, with the country's four heads of state present.
Lula da Silva, Dmitry Medvedev, Manmohan Singh, and Hu Jintao.
Annual summits have taken place ever since, with the goal of asserting the position of these emerging countries on the international stage.
And it makes sense when you consider that combined, the countries account for 42 of the world's population, 27 of the world's land surface and 263 of global GDP.
That's including South Africa, who became a member in 2010, a move which saw the capital letter S added to the end of the original BRIC acronym.
Prior to August 2023, there had been no other previous expansion of the block.
The BRICS countries also control a significant proportion of the world's natural resources, such as oil, natural gas, minerals and some precious metals.
Which new countries have joined now?
The six new members set to join are Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates Iran Egypt, Ethiopia and Argentina.
They were selected from a list of more than 40 countries that had expressed an interest in joining.
That means the bloc will more than double in member countries from 5 to 11.
As impressive as that is, the BRICS share of global GDP will only actually increase by 3%.
That's because the new member countries aren't currently significant economic powers, but they do bring other assets to the table.
For example, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Iran have highly coveted oil and gas resources.
Meanwhile, Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa, although it's considered one of the least developed in the world, according to the United Nations.
Only time will tell whether the latest expansion ends up being a real turning point in international relations.
There you have it.
Now you know why the BRICS block is expanding.
In under three minutes, we answer your questions and help you understand the true meaning behind the trends, concepts and acronyms that are making headlines.
Listen along and you will really know for sure.
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