In the early 21st century, five rising powers (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) formed an exclusive international club, the BRICS. Although not extreme revisionists, the BRICS recognize an ongoing global power shift and contest the West's pretensions to permanent stewardship of the existing economic order. Together they exercise collective financial and monetary statecraft to achieve larger foreign policy goals. The BRICS share common resentments-of U.S. dominance of the global financial system, of playing junior roles in economic governance, and of serving as frequent targets of financial sanctions. They also share common objectives, such as obtaining greater financial autonomy and influence within the Bretton Woods institutions. Their financial statecraft ranges from pressure for the internal reform of international organizations and markets to operating outside the system through the creation of both new multilateral institutions and opportunity structures in international financial markets. To the surprise of many observers, the joint actions of the BRICS have been largely successful. The BRICS' future depends not only on their bargaining power and ability to successfully adjust to market shifts, but also on their ability to overcome domestic impediments to sustainable economic growth, which is the ultimate basis for their international influence.
1. Introduction: The BRICS as a Club
BRICS in the Aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis
Strategic Incentives in Unipolarity and Common Aversions
The BRICS and the Global Governance System
Formal Institutions and Informal Powers: The Emergence of Clubs
The BRICS as a Club
Clubs with Power Asymmetries and Dominant Powers with Outside Options
Plan of the Book
2. Global Power Shift: The BRICS, Building Capabilities for Influence
Conceptualizing Power
Measuring the Shift in Economic Capabilities
A New, Multipolar World?
The Global Financial and Monetary Capabilities of the BRICS
Redback Rising
Conclusions
3. BRICS Collective Financial Statecraft: Four Cases
Defining Collective Financial Statecraft
Four Categories of Collective Financial Statecraft
Inside Reforms: The BRICS Quest for Greater Influence Within the IMF and World Bank (Case 1)
Inside Reforms: Resist Manipulation of Financial Market Power for U.S./Western Political Aims (Case 2)
Outside Options: Create Parallel Financial Institutions Controlled by the BRICS (Case 3)
Outside Options: Diminish Dollar Dominance and Build the Financial Market
Power of the RMB (Case 4)
Future Directions and Cooperative Opportunities Not Taken
Conclusion: Mostly Successful BRICS Collective Financial Statecraft
4. Motives for BRICS Collaboration: Views from the Five Capitals
Six Propositions
The View from Beijing: In Search of Legitimacy and Unthreatening Leadership
The View from Moscow: Russia's Struggle for Autonomy and International Influence
The View from New Delhi: Amplifying Voice and Anticipating Multipolarity
The View from Brasília: Enhancing Status and Inviting Investment
The View from Pretoria: Support for Growth and Regional Leadership
Conclusions: Explaining BRICS Collaboration
5. Conclusion: Whither the BRICS?
BRICS and World Order: Too Much Pessimism Is Unwarranted
Growth: The Essential Need to Return to the BRICS' Roots
The Tension Between Formal and Informal Rules
Summing up: The BRICS, Collective Financial Statecraft, and the Multipolar Future
Notes
Index
