Some commentators on international affairs seem to think that “the West” and the BRICS+ do not really matter; only the United States and China do. Yet three factors complicate this simplistic framing, suggesting that even superpowers’ influence has limits, and that smaller powers can sometimes punch above their weight.
LONDON—I recently launched a new policy platform (with Gemma Cheng’er Deng) to promote closer cooperation between the West and the BRICS+ group (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, plus a half-dozen other emerging economies). Our goal is to make the case that problems like infectious disease, antimicrobial resistance, climate change, AI governance, and global economic imbalances cannot be tackled by countries acting on their own.
LONDON—I recently launched a new policy platform (with Gemma Cheng’er Deng) to promote closer cooperation between the West and the BRICS+ group (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, plus a half-dozen other emerging economies). Our goal is to make the case that problems like infectious disease, antimicrobial resistance, climate change, AI governance, and global economic imbalances cannot be tackled by countries acting on their own.