CO26086
Author: Nazia Hussain
Published: 22 April 2026
BRICS is often cast in extremes. When more than 30 countries expressed interest in joining after the 2023 Johannesburg summit, the grouping was hailed in some quarters as a prospective alternative to the Western-led order. However, when recent tensions in the Persian Gulf exposed its limits, sceptics were quick to dismiss it as strategically inconsequential.
Both framings miss the structural limitation the Gulf crisis has exposed – one that emerges in multilateral groupings when rhetorical alignment must translate into collective action amid divergent interests. A similar limitation is visible within ASEAN, where uneven economic exposure and strategic asymmetries among member states hinder collective responses.
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The article was published by RSIS.
The Romanian Institute for Europe-Asia Studies (IRSEA) and S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), NTU have agreed to enter into an informal agreement on republishing their studies and analysis.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the official policy, position or view of IRSEA.