I’m a citizen of a BRICS country. Let me give you my perspective;
BRICS has annual meetings. Those meetings generate treaties and agreements such as the one that formed the BRICS Bank, the Reserve Agreement, a potential joint currency. These are tangible products of actual formal processes with signed agreements, not whatever smoky-room handshake deals you’re imagining.
BRICS membership has a real impact on the countries in it, and the people in it. Both positive and negative (the whole furore around Putin’s arrest warrant, for instance, had real impacts here).
I see no reason that the overall informality of the group makes it all that different from the formal ones in impact. The institutions it generates, like NDB, are formal entities, and they wouldn’t exist without the parent grouping. They are not just “empty gestures”.
You’re also mistaken as to how most BRICS decisions are made. It’s not all top-down from the Presidents, most of it happens at the ministerial level. And at least for South Africa, that doesn’t mean “strong man” dictates.
I personally don’t like BRICS or our membership in it, but I also don’t like the IMF, World Bank, or much of how the UN runs, so that’s neither here nor there.
Having said that - frankly, I find the whole thread quite chauvinist in tone, and so screamingly West-is-Best it would easily fit in at a 3rd degree Proud Boy rally (if it could find a polo shirt in its size).
Thank you very much for your perspective. I am sorry my opinion comes across like that, that was not my intention, but it is the perception that counts, not my intention, so that is regrettable.
FTR, I also don’t like the IMF, World Bank, or much of how the UN runs either, and though I like the idea behind the EU I disagree with much of its implementation, but that was not your point. I apologize for my tactlessness.
I too am a citizen of BRICS country. (Just my Opinion) I think one of the important point in the minds of founder countries was concern over the dominance of the West over so-called International Organisations. The country like China and Russia clearly give this org. an Anti-west hint, while India and Brazil(and now South Africa) try to play neutral. The fact that it doesn’t have a constitution and hierarchy is significant but has limited impact. The org. as of now only works on consensus which is wise given it’s hard anyways for these countries with conflicting interests to cooperate. There are many organizations made with similar anti-west sentiment, one of them is the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. For a long time, BRICS has been working to build consensus on a common currency to fight dollar - Ditching the Dollar: Will a new BRICS currency replace the US dollar for trade? (firstpost.com). And one point I believe is very important here is - In it’s Annual Meeting, Head of states come to meet each other, if it has lost its value, head of states would not have come, foreign ministers or anyone else would have come. And the significant impact it has already made is also discussed above.
I just want to propose the word “group” for those who have a semantic problem with the word “organization.”
I make no claim one way or the other that is actually a better word in this particular circumstance. It’s just an idea for a term for something that someone feels is too loosely organized to be an organization.