South Africa's national interest and BRICS

Page 10February 2012Policy Brief No. 4• BRICS mediation discourse: The fi ve BRICScountries are regional powers in their respectiveregions. The assumption is that they havemediated their regional interest and strategicpositions, and have secured a regional mandate.For instance, South Africa may refl ect in itsengagements with BRICS and the rest of worldthat it is “the gateway to Africa”.• BRICS expansion: BRICS is a growing forum.The question is: In which ways will the inclusionof Mexico, Turkey, Nigeria, Egypt, Thailand orIndonesia change the relationship among theBRICS countries? How will the balance of powerconfi guration be resolved at BRICS and atregional level?• China extension/expansion: China’s extensionand expansion of its scope and scale of interactionand activities in the world has policy implications.How will BRICS countries fi nd a balancebetween third-party preferences in whichChina will engage (e.g. the EU, ASEANand USA) and those that the BRICS countrieshave with China? Similarly, what and howwill BRICS countries (particularly Chinaand Russia) deal with IBSA’s infl uence onand divergent interest in BRICS?• BRICS knowledge hub: BRICS needs tomanage, organise and disseminate theinformation and knowledge about itsactivities in each country and in the restof the world. Will the BRICS countries adopta hub-and-spokes approach where the specifi ccountry knowledge and information (spokes)are transmitted into the central hub, andwhere will the hub be located amongstthe BRICS?