# BRICS unity under strain

Source URL: https://polimeme.com/discussion/thread_0c6cbc4918051241
First seen: 2026-09-14 10:40 UTC · Latest activity: 2026-09-17 13:36 UTC
12 core pieces, 5 related pieces

## Summary

BRICS leaders meet under pressure from the Iran war, trade friction and rival national priorities, and the summit can still only produce limited coordination. What is at stake is whether the group can turn size into leverage on finance and diplomacy, or remain a loose forum for hedging.

## Core contention

Can BRICS still turn size into coordinated leverage on finance and diplomacy, or does the Iran war expose it as a loose forum of competing national hedges?

## Argument map

1. BRICS can still press for finance reform and more room from Washington because members want bargaining power. — ewa_no (Kultura Liberalna), Marcus Vinícius De Freitas (Jornal Económico), António Caeiro (Visão), Ilan Kapoor (Al Jazeera Opinion)
2. The Iran war pushes the group toward cautious economic coordination and away from a sharp anti-West line. — Ronny P Sasmita (Al Jazeera Opinion), Lorenzo Lamperti (Taccuino Asiatico), Michael Corbin (Responsible Statecraft), Sarang Shidore (Responsible Statecraft)
3. China and India use BRICS to widen their room for manoeuvre, but not to build one geopolitical camp. — Redazione (Il Foglio), Abhishek Roy Choudhury (International Politics and Society)

## Fault line

Whether common leverage on finance and diplomacy can survive the members' conflicting strategic aims.

## New element

The Iran war has narrowed the agenda and made the limits of common geopolitical action more visible.

## European relevance

European governments must judge whether BRICS can shape sanctions, commodity flows and global finance, or whether it stays a fragmented negotiating forum.

## Distinct theses in this debate

- The BRICS have not become a coherent anti-Western bloc and the New Delhi summit exposes their internal contradictions.
- The Brics summit showed limited unity: diplomatic compromise is growing, but the bloc still lacks the tools for a common strategy
- The Iran war will prevent BRICS from issuing a forceful geopolitical statement and force the summit to focus on economic coordination
- BRICS is better suited to bargaining and institutional reform than to unified anti-US geopolitical action
- BRICS members, especially China, are better placed than Washington to broker an Iran ceasefire
- BRICS's New Delhi declaration was a limited win that masks deeper divisions and a weakening strategic purpose.
- The BRICS are a serious multipolar actor, and Europe should treat them as such instead of dismissing them
- BRICS is not forming a unified anti-West bloc; Russia seeks alternatives while China seeks to reshape existing global rules

## Pieces

- 2026-09-17 09:40 UTC — [BRICS nie jest monolitem. Ale Zachód nie może go lekceważyć](https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2026/09/17/renik-brics-nie-jest-monolitem-ale-zachod-nie-moze-go-lekcewazyc) — ewa_no (Kultura Liberalna) [pl]
- 2026-09-13 11:46 UTC — [The Iran war reveals the limits of BRICS](https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2026/9/13/the-iran-war-reveals-the-limits-of) — Ronny P Sasmita (Al Jazeera Opinion) [en]
- 2026-09-14 23:06 UTC — [BRICS e a nova ordem global](https://jornaleconomico.sapo.pt/noticias/brics-e-a-nova-ordem-global) — Marcus Vinícius De Freitas (Jornal Económico) [pt]
- 2026-09-11 04:05 UTC — [Ma ve li ricordate i Brics?](https://www.ilfoglio.it/esteri/2026/09/11/news/ma-ve-li-ricordate-i-brics--407190) — Redazione (Il Foglio) [it]
- 2026-09-14 05:25 UTC — [Summit Brics, Xi-Modi, Okinawa](https://lorenzolamperti.substack.com/p/summit-brics-xi-modi-okinawa) — Lorenzo Lamperti (Taccuino Asiatico) [it]
- 2026-09-10 04:05 UTC — [The Iran war looms large as BRICS leaders gather in New Delhi](https://responsiblestatecraft.org/brics-summit-2026) — Michael Corbin (Responsible Statecraft) [en]
- 2026-09-08 11:00 UTC — [Next BRICS summit can get an Iran ceasefire](https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2026/9/8/brics-summit-may-be-the-only-place-another-iran-ceasefire-can-be-built) — Imran Khalid (Al Jazeera Opinion) [en]
- 2026-09-13 18:10 UTC — [Against the odds, BRICS overcomes sharp divisions in New Delhi](https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2026-brics-summit) — Sarang Shidore (Responsible Statecraft) [en]
- 2026-09-17 13:36 UTC — [One bloc, two futures?](https://www.ips-journal.eu/topics/foreign-and-security-policy/one-bloc-two-futures-9306) — Abhishek Roy Choudhury (International Politics and Society) [en]
- 2026-09-13 08:00 UTC — [A Humanidade em primeiro lugar. Opinião de António Caeiro](https://visao.pt/opiniao/a-colina-perfumada/2026-09-13-a-humanidade-em-primeiro-lugar-opiniao-de-antonio-caeiro) — António Caeiro (Visão) [pt]
- 2026-09-12 06:44 UTC — [Trump may be BRICS’s best recruitment agent](https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2026/9/12/trump-may-be-bricss-best-recruitment-agent) — Ilan Kapoor (Al Jazeera Opinion) [en]
- 2026-09-15 14:24 UTC — [Indian summer: The BRICS summit and warming New Delhi-Beijing relations](https://ecfr.eu/article/indian-summer-the-brics-summit-and-warming-new-delhi-beijing-relations) — James Crabtree (ECFR) [en]

### Related

- 2026-09-15 17:00 UTC — [Il vertice BRICS e il disgelo tra India e Cina](https://appunti.substack.com/p/il-vertice-brics-e-il-disgelo-tra) — Stefano Feltri (Appunti) [it]
- 2026-09-15 08:16 UTC — [Uneinig zum Erfolg](https://www.ipg-journal.de/regionen/global/artikel/uneinig-zum-erfolg-9295) — Brahma Chellaney (IPG Journal) [de]
- 2026-09-18 03:35 UTC — [KOMMENTAR - Den globalen Süden gibt es nicht – der Mythos hilft Diktatoren, Linkspopulisten und ehrgeizigen Politikern](https://www.nzz.ch/meinung/warum-der-globale-sueden-ein-mythos-und-nuetzlich-fuer-diktatoren-ist-ld.10024033) — Daniel Rickenbacher (NZZ) [de]
- 2026-09-14 12:00 UTC — [BRICS leaders urge global financial system reform, but does it avoid the Thucydides Trap?](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2026-09-14-brics-leaders-urge-global-financial-system-reform-but-does-it-avoid-the-thucydides-trap) — Mark Swilling (Daily Maverick Opinionista) [en]
- 2026-09-16 14:31 UTC — [Ο επιταχυντής Τραμπ](https://www.efsyn.gr/stiles/1468298/o-epitahyntis-tramp) — Γιώργος Μαντενιώτης (EfSyn) [el]