	BRICS Information Centre

Bibliography on the BRICS Institutions

BRICS Research Group

This bibliography offers a list of citations relevant for scholarly research on the BRICS institutions at the levels of the summit, ministers, officials and civil society. A second category includes sources dealing with the interactions and interdependencies among the BRICS countries. Sources comparing the individual BRICS countries are included, less comprehensively, in a third category. Lastly, government and other infromation sources are gathered in a fourth category.

In compiling this bibliography, the BRICS Research Group acknowledges the contributions of Ashley Pereira, Elvira Omarbagaeva, Aleksandra Susak, Benjamin Cormier and the International Organizations Research Institute, led by Marina Larionova, at the National Research University Higher School of Economics in Moscow.

Users are invited contribute additional sources, in the languages of the BRICS countries and beyond.

See also BRICS Documents and Materials, published by IORI.

BRICS as an International Institution | BRICS Interactions and Interdependence | BRICS Country Comparisons | Other Sources

The BRICS as an International Institution

Cai, Chunlin (2009). Research on the Economic and Trade Cooperation Mechanism among BRICs. Beijing: China Financial and Economic Press.: Cai is professor of international trade at the Economic and Trade Institute of Guangdong University and researcher at the China WTO Research Institute at the University of International Business and Economics. This book is a comprehensive and in-depth research on the mechanism of economic and trade cooperation among the BRICs. Through the analysis and deduction of game theory, the theory of regional cooperation and international cooperation, the theory of cooperation among developing countries, this book provides a solid theoretical foundation for trade and economic cooperation among BRIC countries. Through the study and analysis of the economic and trade development, the economic structure, the industrial structure, the trade commodity structure the trade relations and economic and trade strategy of the respective countries, this book identifies common interests of the four countries and provides a reliable practical basis for the cooperation among the BRIC countries. It also provides bilateral, regional and multilateral proposals for the economic and trade cooperation of the BRIC countries.
Casella, Paulo Borba (2011). Brics — Brasil, Rússia, Índia, China e África do Sul — Uma perspectiva de cooperação internacional (BRICS — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — A Perspective of International Co-operation). São Paulo: Editora Atlas.: This work aims to analyze the issue of the pursuit of international integration and cooperation prospects in the postmodern world. It has ten chapters: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa and the imperative of international cooperation; The lessons of history can be useful when learned; Brazil and the pursuit of international integration; From the Holy Russia of the Czars to the USSR and Russia today; Sweet taste of India, between tradition and innovation; Sima Qian can guide the direction of international relations with China in a post-modern context; Change in the international perception of South Africa and the world; Possibility of building a new model of international relations; post-modern international law and review of institutional and regulatory models; and Institutional and international regulatory model for BRICS.
Cicci, Alessandra, Michael Motala and Alissa Wang (2020). COVID-19 Research Report: Reimagining Accountability and Global Governance. Report from a project funded by the University of Toronto COVID-19 Student Engagement Award through the generosity of the Office of the Vice-President, International and the Faculty of Arts and Science.: The advent of the global coronavirus pandemic in late 2019 has disrupted the status quo in international politics with bewildering speed. COVID-19 has broken down traditional aspects of social interaction, the economy, and government policy, from global health crisis management to the contraction of the world's advanced and developing economies to the emergence of a new tax-and-spend economic orthodoxy. Global policymakers now face two interconnected crises. Managing and mitigating the damage from the global pandemic have ratcheted global health to the top of the global political agenda and highlighted the need for more proactive policies and pandemic preparedness. The rapid increase of government debt as a proportion of gross domestic product and the ongoing damage done to the economy suggest a fiscal reckoning is on the horizon for the world's advanced economies, underscoring the need for a consensus and unified approach to addressing global tax avoidance by multinational corporations. How and why must international policymakers reimagine their approaches to global health and international taxation at the forthcoming BRICS and G20 summits this year and beyond? To answer this question, this research study investigated the causes of compliance of G20 and BRICS members with their summit commitments. Based on its findings, the authors argue that although global summit institutions including the G20 and BRICS have succeeded in the areas of public health and international taxation since the inception of these organizations, the coronavirus crisis underscores the need for strengthened international cooperation in these interconnected policy areas. As a result, the authors present 10 evidence-based policy recommendations to stimulate further research and assist global policymakers as they contemplate the future of global health and international taxation in the post-COVID19 era.
Cooper, Andrew F. (2014). "The G20 and Contested Global Governance: BRICS, Middle Powers and Small States," Caribbean Journal of International Relations & Diplomacy 2(3): pp. 87-109.: The G20 opens a critical lens into the nature of contested global governance at a time of fundamental re-ordering. Although increasing their status. The BRICS have not made sustained efforts to influence the design of the G20. By way of contrast a number of middle powers have exhibited more assertive diplomatic styles as hosts and policy entrepreneurs. While initially left outside the summit process, some key small states worked extensively through coalitional diplomacy to gain some degree of access to the G20. This paper showcases the degree to which the contestation about the nature of new forms of global governance must be nuanced. The main route of contestation for the big rising powers has come via parallel institutional structures – notably through the formalization of the BRICS. Middle powers and smaller states, with a greater sense of the stakes involved concerning 'hub' institutionalization, have a much greater incentive to actively engage with the G20.
Cooper, Andrew F. and Asif B. Farooq (2015). "Testing the Club Dynamics of the BRICS: The New Development Bank from Conception to Establishment." International Organisations Research Journal 10(5). Russian version. English version.: The article addresses the puzzle of how the BRICS members were able to overcome institutional constraints and establish the New Development Bank (NDB) in a short period after its conception. It argues that the club dynamics among the members help them circumvent internal conflicts due to the embedded mutual common interest in status attribution. The dynamics also create an informal institutional platform for them to manoeuvre through intra-BRICS competitive interests by taking a symbolic stake in the NDB's development. Club diplomacy downplays contentious issues while elevating and reinforcing issues of common interest. Such an approach is tested, however, when the focus shifts from externalized demands to collective action. Calls for reforming the global system notably through a more equitable distribution of voice and influence in the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank further consolidated the club-like culture among the BRICS members. At the same time, the push for a bold initiative of their own, such as the establishment of a development bank with the promise of massive infrastructure investment targeted at other countries in the global South, demonstrated the symbolic need to move beyond the status quo.
Cooper, Andrew F., and Ramesh Thakur (2012). The Group of Twenty (G20). Oxford: Routledge.: This book describes the purpose and function of the G20. In doing so, discussion of emerging powers and North-South relations becomes a key component of the book. The BRICS are a part of this discussion.

Cormier, Ben (2012). "Why the Values of the BRICS Matter." Paper prepared in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of MRes International Politics, University of Glasgow, September.: This paper highlights the importance of the BRICS in terms of international political order. It argues that the values of the BRICS will determine the degree to which a new international political order is developed (or, in other words, the degree to which the contemporary liberal order remains intact).
Dailami, Mansoor, and Paul Masson (2010). "Toward a More Managed International Monetary System." International Journal 65(2): 393-410.
Dailami, Mansoor, and Paul Masson (2009). "The New Multi-Polar International Monetary System." Policy Research Working Paper 5147, December. Washington DC: World Bank.: Backed by rapid economic growth, growing financial clout and a newfound sense of assertiveness in recent years, the BRICs are a driving force behind an incipient transformation of the world economy away from a U.S.-dominated system toward a multipolar one in which developing countries will have a major say.
Keukeleire, Stephan, and Hans Bruyninckx (2011). "The European Union, the BRICs and the Emerging New World Order," pp. 380-403 in Christopher Hill and Michael Smith, eds., International Relations and the European Union. Oxford: Oxford University Press.: This chapter treats the BRICS as an institutional entity, not an informal grouping of states.
Kirton, John (2013). "Burgeoning BRICS Consequences for Canada." Paper prepared for a panel on "Boom or Bust! Rewards and Risks of Greater Canadian Integration with the Emerging Nations of Brazil, Russia and South Africa," Canadian International Council Toronto Branch, Toronto, February 5, 2013.: This paper reviews the record of the BRICS members as individual powers and as a collective international institution, to demonstrate that the BRICS grouping is here to stay as a rising centre of cohesive power, influence and opportunity in the world. It then identifies the many consequential economic areas where the position of the BRICS collectively, or of its most consequential members, is compatible with that of Canada, and thus offers a basis on which enhanced trade and investment partnerships can be built. The paper then outlines the core components of a Canadian strategy for building such a broader, deeper partnership with the BRICS in the coming years.
Kirton, John (2015). "Explaining the BRICS Summit Solid, Strengthening Success." International Organisations Research Journal 10(5): 9-38. Russian version. English version.: The BRICS have emerged as a solid, increasingly comprehensive, cooperative success, both alone and within the G20, on behalf of all emerging countries, as demonstrated by its summit performance since its start on the margins of the G8's Hokkaido Summit in 2008 through to its gathering at the G20's Brisbane Summit in 2014. This success is due primarily to the failure of the other international institutions from the 1944–45 and 1975 generations to give the leading emerging powers an equal, effective place and thus to solve the new, compounding global financial crisis and other challenges arising since 2008. The BRICS is a plurilateral summit institution growing in its level, membership, agenda and interaction intensity, with its summit performance rising substantially across an increasing array of major dimensions of global summit governance. This performance has been driven somewhat by the global financial, economic and food shocks since 2008, but primarily by the failure of the multilateral organizations from the 1940s, the G8-plus process from 2003 to 2009 and the first two G20 summits to give the big emerging powers the equal role, rights, responsibilities and effective influence warranted by their rising relative capability and international openness and needed to solve the new challenges of an intensely interconnected world. It was also due to the increasing institutionalization of the BRICS as a constricted, compact club, where rational incentives to cooperate slowly started to breed personal bonds that enhanced cooperation among the participants themselves.
Kirton, John (2020). "BRICS Climate Governance in 2020." Paper prepared for presentation at the "BRICS at Ten: Challenges, Achievements and Prospects," Gaidar Forum, RANEPA, Moscow, January 15, 2020.
Kirton, John (2023). "The Evolving BRICS." Presentation to the European Parliament's informal working group of the Greens/EFA Parliamentary Group, July 5.
Kirton, John and Marina Larionova with Yoginder Alagh, eds. (2012). "BRICS: The 2012 Delhi Summit." London: Newsdesk.: A compilation of BRICS articles with commentary and analysis leading up to 2012 New Delhi Summit. For full list of articles in the compilation, see the table of contents.
Kramarenko, Alexander (2009). "Russia and the Rise of the Dialogue Mechanism in the BRIC Format," January 16.: This article, written by the policy planning director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, covers the development of formalized dialogue between the BRICS countries.
Kulik, Julia (2011). "Russia’s Global Health Governance Gap: A Strategy for Summit Success." Paper prepared for the Conference on Emerging Practices in Global Health Co-operation, Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Washington DC, December 6.
Kulik, Julia (2013). "Reducing the Economic Burden of Non-communicable Diseases in the BRICS: Lessons from Brazil." BRICS Research Group, January 25, 2013.
Kumar, Sanjeev (2011). BRICS Health Ministers' Meeting: A Welcome Development. Indian Council of World Affairs, July 29.: This article presents BRICS public health statistics as well as ministerial commitments.
Larionova, Marina (2012). "BRICS in the System of Global Governance." International Affairs, No. 4. Published in Russian as "БРИКС в системе глобального управления.": An article in Russian on the how the BRICS's place in global governance is determined by their growing influence on the global economy.
Larionova, Marina (2012). "Supply-Demand Model for Developing a Presidency Proposals for Reform Agenda and Priorities in Informal International Institutions (G20, G8, BRICS). Internaitonal Organisations Research Journal2012, No. 4. Pp. 7-17. Also published in Russian as "Модель обеспечения баланса реальных и прогнозируемых внешних условий и национальных приоритетов страны-председателя для формирования предложений к повестке дня «двадцатки», «восьмерки» и БРИКС.": The paper presents a supply-demand model for developing a presidency's proposals for agenda and priorities in informal institutions such as G20, G8 or BRICS. Within the model the presidency effectiveness is based on its capability to match supply and demand as a combination of several factors: 1) the agenda, priorities and summit decisions respond to a large degree to the key global governance challenges; 2) internal demand (presidency priorities) and external demand (global governance challenges and other members’ interests) are well balanced; 3) the institution capabilities are utilized at most; 4) the choice of the presidency role (organizer, mediator, political leader, national representative) conforms to the combination of external and internal conditions. The model can be used for planning and preparing a presidency, as well as for its subsequent evaluation.
Larionova, Marina, Mark Rakhmangulov, Andrei Sakharov and Andrey Shelepov (2014). "BRICS: Emergence of the Health Agenda," International Organisations Research Journal 9(4): 73-88.: Health is an indispensable public good. At the national level it has been manifested in the BRICS governments' commitment to scale up health financing, though to a different degree. At the global level it is evidenced by the international community progress on the three health-related Millennium Development Goals. However despite successes in fighting infectious diseases, child and maternal mortality, old risks persist and new challenges emerge, resulting from the 2008 financial crisis, current slack economic growth and growing economic inequality. The BRICS face these challenges and have begun cooperation on health issues. It is important that they build their emerging health agenda recognizing these challenges, committing to develop sustainable policy solutions, and cooperating with other actors to promote effective health governance for change. To explore how the BRICS contribute towards global health governance the article first considers the BRICS cooperation (its institutionalization, discourse, and engagement with other international institutions) with a focus on health issues. The authors then look into the BRICS members' national health systems, challenges and goals. The article concludes with expectations of the BRICS future health agenda and its implications for global governance.
Larionova, Marina, Vitaly Nagornov, Mark Rakhmangulov and Andrey Shelepov (2012). "Global Risks Governance and G20, G8, BRICS Capabilities." International Organisations Research Journal 9(3): 42-91. Also published in Russian as "Проблемы управления глобальными рисками и возможности «Группы двадцати», «Группы восьми» и БРИКС.": This paper presents a comparative assessment of the capabilities of the G20, the G8 and the BRICS and their missions' relevance to surmounting key global governance challenges of the forthcoming decade. To identify these challenges the authors used the data of two World Economic Forum reports "Global Risks 2011" and "Global Risks 2012." The analysis was carried out on five risk categories (economic, societal, geopolitical, technological and environmental) and 25 risks with the biggest sum of impact and likelihood indicators. The assessment of the G20, G8 and BRICS capabilities draws on the analysis of the official documents content and decisions made in the summits and in other institutional formats. The comparative analysis has allowed identify the risk categories most relevant to each institution’s mission and capability. The findings were used to make recommendations for G20, G8 and BRICS agendas using the supply-demand model matching global governance problems (demand) and international multilateral institutions capacity (supply).
Larionova, Marina, Mark Rakhmangulov and Andrey Shelepov (2012). "BRICS Cooperation: A Resource for Forging BRICS and G20 Decisions in the Key Areas of International Financial and Economic Architecture." International Organisations Research Journal 2012(4): 199-238. Also published in Russian as "Возможности сотрудничества в БРИКС для формирования решений БРИКС и «двадцатки» по ключевым направлениям реформы международной финансово-экономической архитектуры в интересах России.": The authors analyze BRICS cooperation as a possible resource for developing G20 and BRICS decisions on key areas of the international financial and economic architecture reform. The paper assesses BRICS members' positions on the main dimensions of reform, including changing the global system of reserve currencies, reforming the governance of international financial institutions, replenishing the resources of multilateral development banks, creating new financial safety nets, establishing a BRICS development bank, creating an effective surveillance system and overcoming financial imbalances. Each section begins with presentation of Russian priorities on respective reform issues, and then reviews the priorities of the other BRICS countries. It helps identify shared positions among the BRICS countries on key areas of the international financial and economic architecture reform, and possible action lines for future cooperation. To evaluate how BRICS collective positions could affect G20 decisions, the authors did a comparative analysis of the BRICS and G20 decisions on international financial and economic architecture reform issues. The analysis revealed several turning points of BRICS coordination for G20 decision making process. The paper puts forward recommendations for BRICS cooperation agenda on the international financial and economic system.
Larionova, Marina, Luca Scaffardi and Veronica Federico (2015). Special issue on the BRICS. International Organizations Research Journal 10(5). Russian version. Introduction in English.: Includes articles by John Kirton, Victoria Panova, Andrew F. Cooper and Asif B. Farooq, Helmut Reisen, Michael Kahn, Haibin Niu and more.
Lukov, Vadim (2012). "A Global Forum for the New Generation: The Role of the BRICS and the Prospects for the Future," January 24. BRICS Information Centre.: Lukov is the BRICS Coordinater for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This article asserts that the BRICS institution is a manifestation of new trends in the international relations system. These trends are multipolar and economic in character. The work highlights achievements and opportunities for the BRICS in international politics, international security and international finance.
Modak, Purvaja (2021). "The New Development Bank Turns Six: Evaluating Successes, Failures and Challenges," July 26. Center for Public Policy Research, Kochi, India.: The BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) completes six years since its inception in July 2021. Considered as the most successful initiative of the BRICS grouping so far, the NDB was proposed at the fourth BRICS summit 2012 in New Delhi …
Niu Haibin (2015). "Is There a Role for the BRICS in Asian Affairs?" International Organisations Research Journal 10(5). Russian version. English version.: The BRICS group of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa is an important rising force in the current global governance system. From 2009 the priorities for cooperation among the BRICS countries were on reforming major international financial institutions; in recent years these have been extended to include international security and development issues. At the regional level, BRICS leaders held dialogues with their counterparts in Africa and South America during the two latest BRICS summits. However, the BRICS group has not paid much attention to Asian economic issues or security issues in East Asia. The weak and unbalanced agenda of the BRICS toward Asian affairs is unusual considering the fact that the BRICS includes three prominent Asian members with global ambitions, and the overall importance of Asia to BRICS members. The absence of a strong Asian agenda within the BRICS reflects some of the dimensions of the group and the region itself. First of all, the priority of the BRICS countries is to promote their global status, which makes global issues more attractive for them than regional issues. Second, Asian members of the BRICS are not capable of solving Asian security challenges individually or collectively. Third, unlike Africa and South America, Asia is not a highly integrated region — partially due to competition among major powers including the Asian members of the BRICS. However, considering the region's rising importance and challenges, the BRICS cannot avoid exploring its influence in shaping Asia's future. In order to improve their influence in the region against the background of competing regional institutions and the renewed interest of the United States in Asia, BRICS countries need to coordinate their individual approaches to Asia, provide more regional public goods by multilateral means, offer either solutions or ideas for regional security issues and find a more sustainable way to engage with the region.
O'Neill, Jim (2001). "Building Better Global Economic BRICS," Global Economics Paper No. 6, November 30.: One of the original papers coining the term "BRIC."
O'Neill, Jim (2011). The Growth Map: Economic Opportunity in the BRICS and Beyond. London: Penguin.: Since Jim O'Neill coined the term BRIC ten years ago, when he predicted that Brazil, Russia, India and China would overtake the largest western economies, the group has become a formative geopolitical and investment ideas. In this book, O'Neill asks whether the BRICS, now with South Africa, can sustain their exceptional levels of growth, and explores where to look for future growth potential.
Reisen, Helmut (2015). "Alternative Multilateral Development Banks and Global Financial Governance." International Organisations Research Journal 10(5). Russian version. English version.: What impact will the New Development Bank (NDB) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), two multilateral banks created in 2014 outside the established Bretton Woods system, have on multilateral lending shares in the future? Will these new institutions led by China and the BRICS grouping of China, Brazil, India, Russia and South Africa help rebalance multilateral development finance away from Western dominance? The answer depends on three factors. First of all, the pressure for the BRICS to "exit" rises with past, present and expected failure of "voice" reform in the established international financial institutions (IFIs). Second, excess demand for multilateral soft loans and, third, the potential lending capacity by the NDB and AIIB are quantified to assess how much relative business — hence political influence — the existing IFIs might lose to the new competitors. It is estimated that the NDB and the AIIB combined will attract sufficient co-financing to rival the established multilateral development banks (MDBs) in annual lending. This article concludes that infrastructure finance will benefit from the creation of the NDB and the AIIB by tapping the considerable saving potential in China and other BRICS countries. The new institutions should therefore be supported, not discouraged, by western governments and donors as well. As the new MDBs introduce choice for potential borrowers in terms of funding cost and modalities, they are well advised to join these new institutions rapidly for their own benefit. Competition in multilateral development banking may have a negative impact on loan enforcement mechanisms. The IFIs of the existing Bretton Woods system and the new development banks will have to unite by imposing cross-default clauses to safeguard their preferred creditor status.
Sekine, Eiichi (2011). "The Impact of the Third BRICS Summit." Nomura Journal of Capital Markets, volume 3, number 1.: The third BRICS summit was held on April 14, 2011, in Sanya on Hainan Island, China. Brazil, Russia, India and China were joined by South Africa. Following the summit, the members issued a joint communiqué. The BRICS have continued to increase their share of global gross domestic product, trade and foreign currency reserves ever since the financial crisis of 2008, and their views will continue to attract attention.
Skak, Mette (2011). "The BRIC Powers as Soft Balancers: Brazil, China, India and Russia." Paper prepared for the 11th annual Aleksanteri Conference, "The Dragon and the Bear: Strategic Choices of Russia and China," Helsinki, November 9-11, 2011.: This is a paper that both tests and challenges the neorealist theory of soft balancing advanced by Robert Pape. There are significant trends of soft balancing in the foreign and security policy behaviour of Brazil, Russia, India, and China. There are even instances of hard balancing notably in the case of Russia, but also elements of bandwagoning e.g. in the case of India. Moreover, whatever soft balancing there is, it is just as much a result of 2nd image dynamics, namely a deliberate choice of globalization and opening taken by decision-makers inside the BRICs themselves. Soft balancing is not just an outcome of changes in polarity, but reflects the power of the diverse, but mostly attractive forces of globalization.
Sharma, Ruchir (2012). "Broken BRICs: Why the Rest Stopped Rising," Foreign Affairs, November/December, 2-7.: Sharma is head of Emerging Markets and Global Macro at Morgan Stanley Investment Management. This article describes why the BRICS will slow down economically and how this means the new world economic order will look much like the one which has been in place.
Stuenkel, Oliver (2012). "Why BRICS Matters." March 28. e-International Relations.: On the eve of the fourth BRICS summit, Stuenkel explains why the BRICS should be grouped together and highlights, at a high level, some of the issues the BRICS have taken action on and some of the ways in which they have done so.
Utzig, Sarah Moreira (2014). "What Is the Mainstream of the BRICS? A Constructivist Analysis." Centro Universitário La Salle – Unilasalle: This article explores the raison d'être of the BRICS from a constructivist analysis.
Wang, Alissa (2023). "The Evolving BRICS." Presentation to the European Parliament's informal working group of the Greens/EFA Parliamentary Group, July 5.
Watt, Nicola, Eduardo Gomez and and Martin McKee (2014). "Global Health in Foreign Policy — and Foreign Policy in Health? Evidence from the BRICS." Health Policy and Planning 29(6): 763-773: Amidst the growing literature on global health, much has been written recently about the BRICS countries and their involvement and potential impact in global health, particularly in relation to development assistance. Rather less has been said about countries' motivations for involvement in global health negotiations, and there is a notable absence of evidence when their motivations are speculated on. This article uses an existing framework linking engagement in global health to foreign policy to explore differing levels of engagement by BRICS countries in the global health arena, with a particular focus on access to medicines. It concludes that countries' differing and complex motivations reinforce the need for realistic, pragmatic approaches to global health debates and their analysis. It also underlines that these analyses should be informed by analysis from other areas of foreign policy.

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BRICS Interactions and Interdependence

Economist (2012). "The B in BRICS: The Brazil Backlash." May 19.: This magazine article focuses on Brazil in the context of the BRICS and compares Brazil to other BRICS countries.
Hooijmaaijers, Bas (2011). "The BRICs at the UN General Assembly and the consequences for EU Diplomacy." Policy Paper 6, September. Jean Monnet Multilateral Research Network on The Diplomatic System of the European Union.: This policy paper empirically investigates the BRICs' reality at the United Nations, by looking into the voting cohesion between Brazil, Russia, India and China at the UN General Assembly between 2006 and 2009. It examines what this new reality means for the formulation of EU diplomacy towards those countries.
Hurrell, Andrew (2006). "Hegemony, Liberalism and Global Order: What Space for Would-Be Great Powers?" International Affairs. 82(1): 1-19.: This article justifies grouping the Brazil, Russia, India and China together, with passing reference to South Africa. It highlights the countries' material capabilities and desires to revise order and discusses the development of relations among them as well as positions outside western alliance systems, arguing that these are the reasons that this group of countries is important to international politics.
Li, Dan and Wang Yunhui (2010). Decline and Rise: BRIC Construct the New World. Beijing: Enterprise Management Press.: Against the backdrop of a deep recession of the developed economies, great expectations have been placed on the emerging economies. In the international financial crisis, the BRICs and the emerging economies are contributing more than ever to the growth of the world economy and playing an increasingly important role in stabilizing the world economy. By realizing the adjustment of industrial structure and the change of economic growth pattern, the BRICs will lead the world economy in the post-crisis era. For the BRICs, opportunities and challenges coexist. How to reduce the dependence on the United States still remains the major problem. At the same time, they have development space, potential sizable market and market promoting awareness and regulatory capacity from the government.
Li Yang (2011). BRICs and the Global Transformation. Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press.: Li is the deputy president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He previously served on the Currency Policy Committee of the People's Bank of China. This book collects the research results by experts from the BRIC countries who participated in a seminar in Brasilia in April 2010. Topics at the seminar covered the financial crisis, international trade, climate change, foreign direct investment, technological innovation, global governance and the role of the BRICs in the global transformation during the post-crisis era.
Russian International Affairs Council (2012). "G20, G8, BRICS Development Momentum and Interests of Russia." Report No. 2.: This report presents key findings and recommendations from several scientific and expert workshops conducted by the Russian International Affairs Council on "Increasing the Effectiveness of Russia's Participation in G8, G20 and BRICS According to the Priorities and National Interests of Russia."

Snetkov, Aglaya and Stephen Aris (2011). "Russia and the Narrative of BRIC." Russian Analytical Digest no. 91, February 14.: Currently, there is a debate about "rising powers" challenging the existing status quo. Within this debate, the BRIC thesis and, more recently, the BRIC summit often feature prominently. Although most analysts question whether Russia can be considered a rising power, Moscow has sought to promote the BRIC summit and thesis as one aspect of its wider attempts to ensure itself a voice in what it deems as a changing global order.
Sun, Xingjie (2010). The Road of BRIC: Brazil — Samba Dancing. Changchun: Changchun Press.: This book is one of a series on the BRIC countries. It examines major issues confronting Brazil. From a colony to a sparkling gold brick, 500 years of Brazil's history tells us about the country's story of innovation and hard struggle. Tradition and modernity, exotic practices and indigenous traditions, democracy and dictatorship, populism and nationalism — all of these paradoxes co-exist harmoniously in Brazil — perhaps the reason why the world perceives the rise of Brazil.
Sun, Xingjie and Wang Wenqi. 2010. The Road of BRIC: India — Giant Elephant Stride Forward. Changchun: Changchun Press.: India is a continent with Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Islam and many other religious civilizations. It is also a country with more than ten languages. In just a few decades, India has emerged as a vigorous new force. This book explores India's caste system and modern democracy, the broken empire and the federal republic, colonial rule and the boom of information technology. These seemingly opposite things may serve as the keys to unravel the mysteries of India. When India is no longer such a mystery, perhaps the rise of China and India together will no longer be just a dream.
Van Agtmael, Antoine (2012). "Think Again: The BRICS." Foreign Policy, November.: The BRICS countries are, individually, the future of the global economy because they are big and potentially powerful. However, they probably will not manifest this future as a cohesive BRICS unit.
Wang, Wenqi. 2010. The Road of BRIC: China — Peaceful Rise of the Eastern Dragon. Changchun: Changchun Press.: Once China was an empire full of glory. Once the flames of war were rampant. The thunder awoke the Chinese people, who had lofty ideals. The old nation was in need of transformation. Institutional innovation is effective to cure the chronic disease of the nation, turning China from melancholy to vibrancy. Opening up to the outside world is a progressive spirit to help China out of its narrow focus on its laurels, enabling it to face the challenges of globalization. This book follows the course of China's history, revisiting the rise of China with 100 years of vicissitude to draw wisdom from history to guide future endeavours.
Wang, Wenqi (2010). The Road of BRIC: Russia — The Quietly Recovered Polar Bear. Changchun: Changchun Press.: When the tsars developed their borders and laid the foundation of vast territory, no one imagined that the oil industry would be one of the pillars that would support the Russian economy. When the Soviet Union and the United States engaged in military and industry competition, no one thought that these would lay a foundation for the powerful atmosphere of Russian diplomacy. However, Russia also has its own outstanding problems: an undeveloped agricultural industry, dependence on strongman politics. Although Russia is a member of the BRIC grouping, its future is full of variables. With its dream of re-emerging as a great power, Russia hopes to strengthen its power and live up to the reputation of a great power.

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BRICS Country Comparisons

Fan, Qimiao, Michael Jarvis, José Guilherme Reis, Andrew Beath and Kathrin Frauscher (2007). The Investment Climate in Brazil, India and South Africa: A Comparison of Approaches for Sustaining Economic Growth in Emerging Economies. Washington: World Bank.: A strong investment climate is a platform for economic success. By creating opportunities and incentives for firms to invest and productively employ inputs, the investment climate is critical to economic growth and prosperity. Analyzing and comparing the investment climate of Brazil, India, and South Africa, three of today's largest emerging economies, this book presents policy makers with the scope of investment climate reforms in these countries. Inter- and intra-country benchmarking can be a starting point for dialogue between the government and private sector on reform priorities and help to encourage the sharing of best practices.
Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (2010). Joint Statistical Publication by BRIC Countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China. Rio de Janeiro.: Compiled by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, this document contains data from the four BRIC countries on consumer price indices, population, economic activity, gross domestic product, living standards, industry, environment, agriculture, forestry, fishing, transport, finance and external economic relations.
Kolodziej, Edward, and Roger Kanet, eds. (2008). From Superpower to Besieged Global Power: Restoring World Order After the Failure of the Bush Doctrine. Athens: University of Georgia Press.: This book focuses on post-2008 global order, but of use here is that it takes a regional view and dedicates chapters to the policies and actions of regions and particular states in context of an American-led international political order. These include the BRICS: Brazil (chapter 14), Russia (chapter 8), India (along with Pakistan as important in South Asia, chapter 5), China (chapter 3), and South Africa (as part of sub-Saharan Africa, chapter 12).
Lima, Maria Regina Soares de, et al. (2009). Os Brics e a Ordem Global (The BRICS and the Global Order). São Paulo: Editora FGV.: To what extent can the BRICs serve as pillars of the new global order? This book examines the foreign policy strategies of the BRIC countries, with a particular focus on its relations with the United States. Can the BRICs countries help build a stable and prosperous international system? There are good reasons to believe that they can.
Lin, Yueqin and Zhou Wen, eds. (2011). Blue Book of Emerging Economy: Annual Report on BRICS Social-Economic Development. Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press.: This book contains contributions from renowned scholars from China, Brazil, India and Russia organized into three sections: General Report, Country Report and Special Report. The great stride forward of the BRICs countries is now rewriting the history of global development, while increasing cooperation among the BRIC countries is also changing the structure of global governance. As the first blue book on the emerging economies published in China, this book analyzes and compares the BRIC countries' motivations, inner weaknesses, outer challenges, the direction for transformation and the prospects.
National Bureau of Statistics of China (2012). BRICS Joint Statistical Publication. Beijing.: This is a comparison of social and economic indicators of the BRICS countries including national accounts, price indices, living standards, the environment, industry, energy, transportation, agriculture, forestry, finance, etc. The second in a series, it was published for the Chinese-hosted 2011 Sanya Summit and prepared in close cooperation by the national statistical offices of the five countries.
Quercia, Paulo and Paulo Magri, eds. (2011). I Brics e noi: L'ascesa di Brasile, Russia, India e Cina e le conseguenze per l'Occidente [The BRICs and Us: The Rise of Brazil, Russia, India and China and the Consequences for the West]. Report prepared for the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Institute for the Study of International Politics and the Fare Futuro Fondazione, Rome.: Paolo Magri notes that it is obvious that the BRICS countries are destined to be increasingly important on the international scene. Their economic weight continues to grow, therefore increasing their political weight as well. However, it would be incorrect to interpret BRICS as a threat to global order. The emergence of the BRICS and their attempt to organize into a political forum reveal an international systems approach that could be defined as “bipolar globalization.” The document also addresses issues of interest to Italy, such as optimizing its international position in a context of progressively weakening globalization and the development of a new model of co-hegemonic globalization. The existence of the BRICS provides Italy an opportunity to contribute the process of modernization as it has contributed to the European Union. Italy must have the courage to explore the new dimensions of future globalization, especially those that see the BRICS as engine driving the new political and economic process.
Russian Analytical Digest (2011). "Statistics: The BRIC Economies in International Comparison." No. 91, February 14.: Statistics on output and population of the BRIC members compared to the United States, the eurozone, Japan, Germany, Britain, Korea, Poland, Argentina and Ukraine.
Velloso, João Paulo dos Reis (2009). A Crise Global e o novo papel mundial dos Brics (The Global Crisis and the New Role of the BRICs). São Paulo: José Olympio Editora.: This book examines the global crisis and the emergence of the BRICs, with a particular focus on the obstacles to Brazil's growth and development.
Velloso, João Paulo dos Reis and Roberto Cavalcanti de Albuquerque, eds. (2009). Na crise global, como ser o melhor dos Brics (In Global Crisis: How to Be the Best of BRICs). São Paulo: Editora Campus.: This book is the result of a debate on the role of the BRICs in the economic and financial system and its role in rebuilding a stable geopolitical world. It comprises the texts of the Special Forum held in September 2008, whose theme was how to be the best of BRICs. The fundamental conditions for achieving this end would be a modern state, a modern political system (responsible development) and an absence of external vulnerability.
Zondi, Siphamandla (2012). "South Africa and the BRICS: An Ingrained Ambiguity." June 12, e-International.: This article highlights South Africa's contradictory foreign policies, symbolized in its BRICS membership, and calls for them to be streamlined and straightforwardly cohered.

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Other Sources

Fundação Alexandre de Gusmão. 2011. Catálogo Bibliográfico: Brasil, Rússia, Índia, China e África do Sul – BRICS (Bibliographic Catalogue: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – BRICS). 2nd edition. Brasilia: Ministry of Foreign Relations.
Various authors. "Throwing BRICS: A Multi-Author Blog Focused on the BRICS Members."

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