What to Expect from the Accession of a Number of ASEAN States to BRICS: Their Motives and Prospects for the BRICS Development

In recent years several ASEAN countries have expressed interest in cooperation with BRICS. On January 1, 2025 Malaysia and Thailand officially became BRICS partner states. Furthermore, on January 6, 2025 Indonesia became the tenth full member of BRICS. What attracts the ASEAN countries in the BRICS format? And how will it factor the further BRICS development? Economic considerations are often cited as one of the main reasons for Indonesia’s interest in the BRICS format. Yet the analysis shows that Indonesia’s decision to join BRICS has political rather than economic reasons. BRICS is attractive due to the collective resources, technological, and demographic potential of its member-states. It can be argued that BRICS member-states try to “monetize” their considerable combined potential and transform it into tangible reputational and political dividends in order to play a more significant role in global governance. Flexible cooperation formats are more in demand among middle powers in the turbulent conditions of modern international relations. It can be assumed that after its expansion BRICS will evolve towards a hybrid of minilateral and umbrella formats of multilateral institutions both of which are characterized by flexibility and ad hoc participation of a few members in specific projects they are interested in. 

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