The five-member BRICS bloc of emerging economies agreed to admit six new countries to its coalition on Thursday morning in an apparent effort to reshape world order away from Western hegemony. The existing group of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, is now inviting Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Argentina, Ethiopia, and Egypt to join its ranks. The dramatic move comes amid efforts from China’s Xi Jinping to create a multipolar world, putting the Global South closer to the heart of international affairs. The announcement came on the last day of a summit in Johannesburg in South Africa, with Xi calling the expansion “historic.”
