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William Daldegan, Carlos Eduardo Carvalho Brics as a Dynamic and in Process Phenomenon of Global Planning:
An Analysis Based on the 2009-2020 Annual Summit Declaraons
Brics as a Dynamic and in Process
Phenomenon of Global Planning: An
Analysis Based on the 2009-2020 Annual
Summit Declarations
Brics como Fenómeno Dinámico y en Proceso de la
Coyuntura Global: un análisis basado en las Declaraciones
anuales de la Cumbre 2009-2020
Brics como Fenômeno Dinâmico e Processual da
Conjuntura Global: uma análise baseada nas Declarações
das Cúpulas anuais de 2009-2020
William Daldegan1
Carlos Eduardo Carvalho2
DOI: 10.5752/P.2317-773X.2022v10.n1.p117
Recebido em: 17 de março de 2021
Aprovado em: 14 de fevereiro de 2022
ABSTRACT
Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa are very heterogeneous coun-
tries and the BRICS is a very original arrangement. This paper asserts that the
BRICS is a dynamic and in process phenomenon: dynamic because it is devel-
oped according to the member’s perceptions about world scenario, without
establishing limitations on strategies and initiatives of each member country; in
process because it is developed through specic processes, in which members
do not point any destination or institutionalization to be achieved. At the annual
summit meetings held regularly since 2009, the BRICS issues a Declaration.
The most prominent topics on the international framework are punctuated
and criticized, with generic proposals to handle or to solve them. The declara-
tions do not show any progressive stages on approaching these topics, neither
consolidation of commitments among the members on them. Such documents
represent the main primary source for the characterization of the group and its
behavior. The innovation of this paper is to deepen the use of primary sources
to move forward in the eort for the BRICS conceptualization and to analyze its
performance throughout the years. The documentary analysis of Summit Dec-
larations is developed by using two text analysis software packages, AntConc
and VOSviewer.
Key Words: BRICS Countries; BRICS Summit Declarations; Governance Instru-
ments; Documentary Sources; Documentary Analysis.
1. PhD in International Relations (San
Tiago Dantas – Unesp/ Unicamp/ PUC
SP), Professor at the Institute of Philos-
ophy, Sociology and Politics of Federal
University of Pelotas (UFPel). E-mail:
william.daldegan@gmail.com. ORCID:
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5806-0557.
2. PhD in Economics (Unicamp),
Professor at Economics Department at
PUCSP and Post-Graduate Program in
International Relations San Tiago Dan-
tas (Unesp/ Unicamp/PUCSP). E-mail:
cecarv@uol.com.br. ORCID: https://
orcid.org/0000-0002-2962-9422.
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estudos internacionais • Belo Horizonte, ISSN 2317-773X, v. 10, n. 1, (abr. 2022), p. 117-147
RESUMEN
Brasil, Rusia, India, China y Sudáfrica son países muy heterogéneos y los BRICS
son un arreglo muy original. Este trabajo arma que el BRICS es un fenómeno
dinámico y en proceso: dinámico porque se desarrolla de acuerdo a las percep-
ciones de los miembros sobre el escenario mundial, sin establecer limitaciones
en las estrategias e iniciativas de cada país miembro; en proceso porque se
desarrolla a través de procesos especícos, en los que los miembros no señalan
ningún destino o institucionalización a alcanzar. En las cumbres anuales que
se celebran periódicamente desde 2009, los BRICS emiten una Declaración. Se
puntúan y critican los temas más destacados del marco internacional, con pro-
puestas genéricas para manejarlos y resolverlos. Las declaraciones no muestran
etapas progresivas en el abordaje de estos temas, ni consolidación de compromi-
sos entre los miembros sobre ellos. Dichos documentos representan la principal
fuente primaria para la caracterización del grupo y su comportamiento. La inno-
vación de este trabajo es profundizar en el uso de fuentes primarias para avanzar
en el esfuerzo de conceptualización de los BRICS y analizar su desempeño a lo
largo de los años. El análisis documental de las Declaraciones de Cumbres se
desarrolla utilizando los softwares de análisis de texto, AntConc y VOSviewer.
Palabras clave: BRICS; Declaraciones de la Cumbre BRICS; Instrumentos de
Gobernanza; Fuentes Documentales; Análisis documental.
RESUMO
Brasil, Rússia, Índia, China e África do Sul são países muito heterogêneos
e o BRICS é um arranjo muito original. Este artigo afirma que o BRICS
é um fenômeno dinâmico e processual: dinâmico porque se desenvolve
de acordo com as percepções dos membros sobre o cenário mundial, sem
estabelecer limitações nas estratégias e iniciativas de cada país membro;
processual porque se desenvolve por meio de processos específicos, nos
quais os membros não apontam qualquer destino ou institucionalização a
ser alcançada. Nas cúpulas anuais realizadas regularmente desde 2009, o
BRICS emite uma declaração. Os tópicos de maior destaque da conjuntura
internacional são pontuados e criticados, com propostas genéricas para
tratá-los ou resolvê-los. As declarações não mostram etapas progressivas
na abordagem desses temas, nem consolidação de compromissos entre
os membros sobre eles. Tais documentos representam a principal fonte
primária para a caracterização do grupo e seu comportamento. A inovação
deste artigo é aprofundar o uso de fontes primárias para avançar no esforço
de conceituação do BRICS e analisar seu desempenho ao longo dos anos. A
análise documental das Declarações de Cúpulas é desenvolvida usando dois
softwares de análise de texto, AntConc e VOSviewer.
Palavras-chave: BRICS; Declarações de Cúpula do BRICS; Instrumentos de
Governança; Fontes Documentais; Análise Documental.
Introduction
Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa are very heteroge-
neous countries, and the BRICS is a very original arrangement. Concep-
tualizing the BRICS is a challenge that justies the term “phenomenon”
used in the title. This paper asserts that the BRICS is a dynamic and in
process phenomenon: dynamic because it is developed according to the
member’s perceptions about world scenario, without establishing limi-
tations on strategies and initiatives of each member country; in process
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William Daldegan, Carlos Eduardo Carvalho Brics as a Dynamic and in Process Phenomenon of Global Planning:
An Analysis Based on the 2009-2020 Annual Summit Declaraons
because it is developed through specic processes, in which members do
not point any destination or institutionalization to be achieved.
The ve countries use the group to enlarge the international order,
occupying vacant spaces in the governance structures, but do not put
such initiatives as embryos nor initial steps for a new international order.
The BRICS do not seek to put itself as an alternative to the current order.
As the major powers do not meet the demands for governance bodies
reforms and democratization, the BRICS has decided to play its own role
in these processes. In doing so, they created a new space to stress their
common claims, year by year, and to present opinions and critics about
relevant issues in each one.
The G-7’s diculty in containing the 2008 crisis gradually ope-
ned to the G-20 an opportunity to create its own international econo-
mic agenda. In this context, the ve countries articulated themselves
with the main claim to reform multilateral organisms, with emphasis
on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB),
indicating a process of modernization and not replacement of the sys-
tem by the G-20. However, in 2020 demands for multilateralism re-
form and global governance were summarized in the acknowledge
“international cooperation in the interest of both nations and peoples
through reinvigorated and reformed multilateral system, including
the UN, the WTO, the WHO, the IMF and other international organi-
zations”. (BRICS, 2020, 6).
At the annual summit meetings held regularly since 2009, the BRI-
CS issues a Declaration on the international order. The most prominent
topics on the international framework are punctuated and criticized,
with generic proposals to handle or to solve them. The declarations do
not show any progressive stages on approaching these topics, neither con-
solidation of commitments among the members on them.
Such documents represent the main primary source for the charac-
terization of the group and its behavior since it was created. They express
the consensus and the composition of interests among the members at
each moment, avoiding themes that may cause discomfort and emphasi-
zing the ones that do not bring any limiting aspects to the individual ac-
tion by each one of them. The Declarations has been the main interven-
tion instrument of the BRICS in the world scenario in these twelve years.
The innovation of this paper is to deepen the use of primary sour-
ces to move forward in the eort for the BRICS conceptualization and to
analyze its performance throughout the years. The article allows moving
forward in this eort by adopting a methodological procedure to treat
systematically the BRICS main primary source, the Annual Declarations,
since its rst Summit. Joints Communiques issued in parallel with the
Summits were not considered in the analysis because they presented little
detailed ideas from the discussions and because of the risk of duplicating
the content of the Summit Declarations.
The documentary analysis of Summit Declarations is developed
by using two text analysis software packages, AntConc and VOSviewer.
Two goals are pursued: (i) exploring the content of the documents based
on the collected and organized data with the aid of the software; and (ii)
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identifying how themes are treated and the Brics’ behavior in these rst
12 annual Summits Declarations.
The combined use of the two software packages has an innovative
character in International Relations and more specically in understan-
ding the BRICS. The counting by AntConc shows the frequency with
which words appear or stop appearing along the Summits, which allows
a quantitative approach to the BRICS emphases each year. The networ-
k-formatted gures generated by VOSviewer organize the relationships
between words and how they change each year, providing the basis for
qualitative analysis of the documents, and allows verifying the dynamics
and the in process character of the evolution of the BRICS.
After this short introduction, the second section discusses the BRI-
CS nature and demonstrates the innovative character here proposed; the
third section presents the methodological tools adopted; the fourth sho-
ws the analysis of each Declaration and of the twelve Declarations alto-
gether; and the fth brings the general analysis of the period and some
conclusions.
The innovative and peculiar nature of the BRICS
The diculty in dening the BRICS reects the absence of plans
or even indications on organizational structures development. Conside-
ring existing typologies, the BRICS does not t within the categories of
group, block, alliance, or international institution, regime, or organiza-
tion. (CARVALHO et al, 2015).
The BRICS as a dynamic and in progress instrument of the inter-
national positioning of its members implies the perception that none of
the ve countries takes it as the main stage of debates or dialogues. They
have articulated themselves in dierent ways. Brazil since 2018 has adop-
ted a foreign policy of approaching the USA and keeping distance from
China. In 2020, China along with the ASEAN countries, Japan, South Ko-
rea, Australia, and New Zealand, signed the Regional Comprehensive
Economic Partnership (RCEP). India withdrew from the RCEP negotia-
tions in 2019, Russia works together with China at Shanghai Cooperation
Organization (SCO), South Africa adopted a coordinated strategy in the
formation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
However, the BRICS has shown great resilience. The original for-
mat has been able to resist even in face of complex challenges, such as mo-
ments of great tension between China and India, as well as the anti-China
aggressiveness of Bolsonaro’s Government in Brazil. This resilience has
not given rise to paralysis or dynamism loss. In 2014, the group created
the New Development Bank (NDB) and established the Contingent Re-
serve Arrangement (CRA), in addition to several working groups.
These initiatives did not change the mentioned characteristics, dy-
namic and in process. The working groups focus on strategic themes -
health, education, trade, energy - as well as the meeting of Think Thanks
that reinforce members’ ties, support their discussions in the Summits
and the approval of cooperation plans such as the BRICS Partnership on
New Industrial Revolution (PartNIR) established in 2018. In the case of
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William Daldegan, Carlos Eduardo Carvalho Brics as a Dynamic and in Process Phenomenon of Global Planning:
An Analysis Based on the 2009-2020 Annual Summit Declaraons
NDB and CRA, a structure of competences and responsibilities was for-
mally instituted through agreements signed in 2014.
These two institutions are cooperation instruments that do not li-
mit each country’s performance in other nancial organizations, neither
do they contest the existing international nancial order.
The NDB is always presented as one more nancial instrument for
the ve countries, with no preferential treatment or privileges, but orien-
ted only by the members themselves. The CRA intend to oer a kind of
insurance in case of exchange distresses, allowing access for money from
the members’ reserves.
Muhr treats the BRICS as a group trying to build itself as a relevant
actor in the International System based on rhetoric and that achieves ma-
teriality in the establishment of a bank and a fund. (MUHR, 2016). Ban
and Blyth (2013, p. 242) argue that the group served as “one of the few
beacons of the global economy” during the 2008 crisis and reinforced, in
its own way and without consensus on the modus operandi, the role of
the State in development. Kornegay (2013) denes the BRICS as a coali-
tion of developing countries with a view to strengthening their inuence
in dierent international forums, with the potential to balance the aspi-
rations of these countries in other initiatives.
Cooper and Farooq (2015) and Stuenkel (2014, 2015) analyze the
BRICS as a club. Cooper and Farooq (2015, p. 07) assert that the informal
club culture allows the accommodation of possible existing dierences
and tensions and the cooperation “to work without any pressure of rigid
institutional hurdles such as organizational problems, deadlines, inuen-
ce from fragmented bureaucratic interest groups and turf ghting as wit-
nessed within formal institutions”. Despite the regular summit meeting
and a set of “stable constitutive, regulatory and procedural norms”, the
maintenance of the informal club model ensures self-selective exclusi-
vity: the restriction to a small number of members allows the operatio-
nalization of joint actions in common themes and interests, facilitates
coordination and cooperation and reinforces the status of each one of the
members, both domestically and internationally to create “an image of
a new and loose form of multilateralism”. (COOPER; FAROOQ, 2015, p.
07, 10). The NDB, as a formal institution and the result of this informal
club culture, suggests “the political resilience of the BRICS as an informal
club”. (COOPER; FAROOQ, 2015, p. 05).
The exclusive club dynamics initially allowed the BRICS to rein-
force their performance as emerging powers, especially in the G-20.
(STUENKEL, 2014). However, without a common and clear agenda, the
club format has helped to balance skills and dissonant interests among
members. The annual summits and declarations take place without cons-
traints and binding decisions and allowing members to gain international
prominence. (STUENKEL, 2015).
The international status is attributed in view of self-selective exclu-
sivity, making participation restricted to members both in dening the
agenda and in the exclusive goods achieved reinforce the image of emer-
ging powers and leaders of South-South cooperation. The greater exibi-
lity to themes of common interest and the abandonment of those of grea-
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estudos internacionais • Belo Horizonte, ISSN 2317-773X, v. 10, n. 1, (abr. 2022), p. 117-147
ter tension indicates a loose alliance that uses informality to achieve coo-
peration without constraints beyond these. A smaller number of members
reduces the costs associated with accessing information and negotiating
procedures by facilitating the identication of mutually common or diver-
gent interests and the distribution of benets. (COOPER; FAROOQ, 2015).
However, Cooper and Farooq (2015, p.03) argue that the conicting
and diverging interests and aspirations of the BRICS generate a trust decit
challenging “any cooperation and coordination that could be sustained in
the long term”. The characterization of the BRICS as a club helps, accord-
ing to the authors, to understand the resilience and maintenance of the
group and the format of multilateralism creates “an image of a new and
loose form of multilateralism”. (COOPER; FAROOQ, 2015, p.10). Howev-
er, it is a multilateralism that, contrary to the Ruggie’s (1992) assertion,
does not generalize modes of conduct, since there are no institutionalized
rules and the constraints, when they exist, tend to be accommodated or
avoided at the Summits and do not appear in the Declarations.
Cooper’s and Farooq’s (2015) proposal to understand the BRICS
from the perspective of informal clubs is quite illuminating though in-
sucient. The reason is that it exposes a dynamic that reinforces the at-
tributes of gaining international status added to the BRICS. However, it
does not clearly demonstrate the motives for resilience and how long this
dynamic of peculiar formality – or lack of it – will be perpetuated based
on this gain of international status with NDB’s full activity.
This formality appears in the regularity of the Summits, in the
initiatives for the creation and development of working groups and the
NDB and CRA, as well as proposals to attract other partners. From 2013
to 2018 neighboring countries were invited to the country that hosted the
annual Summit. In 2017, the possibility of joining new members was sig-
naled the BRICS Plus proposal. 2019 and 2020 had no participation from
other countries.
The NDB, in turn, announced the process of admitting new mem-
bers at Moscow Summit in 2020. It is a formal extension of the BRICS
but by itself does not guarantee the resilience of the group. This occurs,
in addition to the NDB, by the signaling of new members’ adhesion indi-
cating the reinforcement of each BRICS country status in its region and
the BRICS as a relevant actor in the International System. The working
groups have been meeting since the interval between the rst two Sum-
mits, between 2009 and 2010, and as of 2011, action plans are established
with a schedule of joint activities between these groups and national au-
thorities. This set of elements shows the complexity and capillarity of the
group’s action, making the characterization of an informal club based
on a specic type of multilateralism insucient. Too much attention to
form, as Cooper and Farooq do, may overlook important elements of the
content being treated. (COOPER; FAROOQ, 2015). Analysis of the Sum-
mit Declarations indicates it.
These elements suggest the adequacy of the “dynamic and in pro-
cess” qualiers for the BRICS. Absent of formal character, after all, it does
not have constitutive treaties and agreements. The BRICS bases its artic-
ulation through the Summits and has in the Declarations resulting from
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William Daldegan, Carlos Eduardo Carvalho Brics as a Dynamic and in Process Phenomenon of Global Planning:
An Analysis Based on the 2009-2020 Annual Summit Declaraons
them its main instrument of action. The analysis of these Declarations
indicates in process advances, as there are no intentions as to some form
of institutionalization, and dynamic while reecting the members’ per-
ception of the moment and does not prevent other strategies and initia-
tives. It is true that the NDB was formed based on constitutive and signed
agreements between members. It has international legal personality. But
as Cooper and Farroq warn, it is the result of this articulation, an institu-
tional extension “in many ways at odds with the informal club culture of
the BRICS” that they defend, and which are intended to be improved in
this research. (COOPER; FAROOQ, 2015, p.10).
Methodological tools for quantitative and qualitative analysis of texts
This paper employs documentary analysis research since it oers
“the search for information in documents that had no scientic treat-
ment”, an appropriate form for a study that seeks originality, since it al-
lows the researcher to avert or to contest any inuence from previous
readings. (OLIVEIRA, 2007, p.69). For Laver, Benoit and Garry (2013, p.
311), “an alternative way to locate the policy positions of political actors is
to analyze the texts they generate […] they can be analyzed, reanalyzed,
and reanalyzed again without becoming jaded or uncooperative”.
The analysis of the Summit Declarations uses two free software,
AntConc (ANTHONY, 2018) and VOSviewer (ECK, 2018). Both allow: (i)
textual data compilation by listing words according to the frequency they
appear; (ii) contextualization of words and expressions through associa-
tions among them.
The two software were used in text analysis and bibliometric stu-
dies involving textual data produced by real speakers, such as speeches,
debates, and interviews transcriptions, named corpus. (IBPAD, 2018). Its
employment in the Social Sciences has increased due to the possibility of
systematizing large volumes of data and texts, to go beyond treatment
exclusively by qualitative methods. Organizing these data in quantitative
way, using the software’s resources, can improve qualitative analysis rea-
ch, allowing more robust results achievement.
AntConc has been used in studies on authority statements, of-
cial documents and transcriptions of preliminary debates (MARA-
KHOVSKAIIA; PARTINGTON, 2019; GARCIA, 2018; YEON, 2017, DU-
PUITS, 2015), as well as the treatment they receive on the media (YA;
YUE; JIE, 2019; ZHANG; WU, 2019). VOSviewer has been applied in bi-
bliometric network construction (BAHOO; ALON; PALTRINIERI, 2020;
GEHE; HU; HOU, 2018) and in its analysis (SHAHRIAR, 2019).
AntConc generates frames with the frequency of words in the text.
VOSviewer, using bibliometric analysis and a specic algorithm, gene-
rates graphic representations, in a network format, associating words
identied as relevant, being dened a minimum frequency of three times
in the text, and exposing the relationships among them, called strength
link. For Soares (et al, 2016, p. 175), bibliometric analysis “is a method of
quantitative analysis for scientic research. The data elaborated through
bibliometric studies measure the contribution of scientic knowledge de-
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rived from publications in certain areas.” According to Ness Jan van Eck
(2018, p. 03), “although VOSviewer is primarily intended for the analysis
of bibliometric networks, it can in fact be used to create, visualize and
explore maps based on any type of network data”.
The use of the two software as methodological tools results from
the complementarity of the generated results. The quantitative survey on
the frequency of words in documents carried out by AntConc is comple-
mented and contrasted by the association of words in VOSviewer graphic
illustrations. The joint use of each software allows greater interpretative
reach of the results.
The ranking of words demonstrates their use in the course of the
text, especially if veried in relation to the context in which they were
used – by clipping the text or through the context of the time. Neverthe-
less, the appearance of a word in the ranking and its permanence or ab-
sence throughout the summits are relevant to indicate the kind of context
created, reinforced or even forgotten in the conduct of the negotiations, a
reection of the dynamism of contemporary international relations.
The graphic representation shows these words arranged and con-
nected in dierent ways, with greater or lesser prominence, highlighted
by colors suggesting clusters by proximity, and related by coupling links.
The layout illustrates in which environment the word or group of words
is inserted in a document, using colors indicating clusters by proximity
and association. Colors delimit contexts, indicate their relative position
within the document, and reinforce the coupling links.
The highlighting or not of words derives from the relationship bet-
ween frequency, context and relative position in the formation of the as-
sociation force. The complexity of the gures reects the density of the
discussions and allows interpretations about the research subject, based
on the criteria and assumptions exposed below.
Table 1 Analyzed BRICS Annual Declarations, 2009-2020
Own elaborated.
A stopword list establishes a statistical lter to reduce the “noise” or
“pollution” of results with terms that add little to documentary analysis.
According to Chartier and Meunier (2011, p. 19), “the statistical meaning
of a word can be based on its amount of information” which is dened
by its representativeness and by discrimination in a text (or corpus). They
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William Daldegan, Carlos Eduardo Carvalho Brics as a Dynamic and in Process Phenomenon of Global Planning:
An Analysis Based on the 2009-2020 Annual Summit Declaraons
may be infrequent (i.e. idiosyncratic terms, that is, specic to the speech)
or highly frequent (e.g. articles, prepositions, pronouns) and that do not
contribute to the analysis of the meanings of the speech. An additional
generic list of words3 the authors identied as irrelevant or devoid of im-
pact for the intended analysis was used, such names of countries excessi-
vely repeated. (CHARTIER; MEUNIER, 2011; DENNY; SPIRLING, 2018).
Table 1 presents the quantitative indicators of the analyzed statements.
For the execution of the research and the organization of the data,
six parameters (Table 2) and nine presumptions (presented below) were
established, based on the software use tutorials, to be used jointly in the
analysis. Parameters are variables that assume analytical value for the
search. Presumptions are previous guidelines that aid the interpretation
of the results. The combined use of the two instruments is suitable for an
analytical model that merges quantitative and qualitative methods in the
document handling.
The six parameters and the presumptions of the proposed model
allow establishing documentary analyses based on the results generated
by AntConc and VOSviewer and require evaluation by the researcher.
Table 2 Analysis Parameter
Own elaborated.
The model adopted here pays special attention to the criteria “fre-
quency” and “strength link”. The “clusters” criterion indicates the occur-
rence of common terms used in the same context or throughout the text.
Linkage is independent from clusters and indicates how textual construc-
tions and ideas are associated by dialogues with each other. In order to
identify how strong these associations are in the cluster formation, the
“strength link” criterion is established. The “frequency” criterion relates:
the absolute number of repetitions of the same term alone, as a semantic
instrument.
The frequency the terms appear throughout the documents can be
taken as the rst element to aid the researcher in the documental analysis
of the object – BRICS. In the construction of the analysis, it was noti-
ced that the frequency of terms did not necessarily indicate key words in
the document, nor in the evolutionary history of BRICS, especially when
confronted with the strength link gure derived from both the individual
and collective analyses of the summits. The terms found in the frequency
and ranking lists generated by AntConc are not necessarily seen in the
gures that indicate association generated by VOSviewer.
The presumptions are listed and commented below.
3. Available on http://www.ranks.nl/
resources/stopwords.html.
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1 – In the process of interpreting the texts of the documents, even
with the aid of stopword list, certain terms such as articles,
prepositions, pronouns are part of the common vocabulary
or vices of the language and not denoting anything relevant
to the analysis.
2 – The context and proximity with which words appear in the
text may indicate a direct relationship between the attributes
and perceptions that members have of dierent variables in
International System – due to the international conjuncture
of a certain moment and the current political ideas.
3 – The proximity of some terms varies according to the contexts
in which they are observed. This stems from the exibiliza-
tion of the themes and subjects approached, either by changes
in perception of the international context, or by the direct in-
uence of decision-making groups who act more assertively
throughout the negotiations.
4 – The coupling links are considered as important elements in
the analysis, mainly because they allow interaction between
groups of seemingly dierent words. However, this connec-
tion may, in some cases, be too fragile and built based on a
software systematization without sucient solidity and not
noticeable to the researcher’s careful eye during the qualitati-
ve evaluation of the documents.
5 – The linking terms and the relative position of clusters are fun-
damental to understand how the dierent terms and subjects
are treated throughout the text and show how, even seman-
tically distant, the groups dialogue with each other either by
the actors’ perception, or by the way they are treated, refer-
ring to previously discussed subjects.
6 – The relative position of clusters is a fundamental and en-
lightening element both in situations in which few themes
are addressed, and when diusion by dierent themes is pre-
sent. In situations in which extremes are present – scarcity or
excess of themes –it is, at times, dicult to identify the im-
pact of the relative position, but with greater care, it is noticed
that the correlation of groups becomes clearer, or sometimes
confused, when observed as a group based on the strength
link gures.
7 – The gures of strength links are enlightening as they can
trace clear pictures of the discussed groups and topics. This
armation is relevant when certain Summits are observed
where, despite the numerous discussions and themes, it was
possible to build graphically ordered gures. In summits in
which there was an excessive number of topics treated devoid
of focus, confusing and somehow unclear gures are obser-
ved, though still keeping their explanatory power– in these
cases, there is a loss of focus and/or relevance of many topics.
8 – The linking gures contrast the information brought by the
frequency and ranking indexes. This reinforces the idea that,
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William Daldegan, Carlos Eduardo Carvalho Brics as a Dynamic and in Process Phenomenon of Global Planning:
An Analysis Based on the 2009-2020 Annual Summit Declaraons
throughout the process of generating such gures, and ba-
sed on the analysis of groups of information, the terms that
appear the most do not always reect the themes of greater
importance in the discussions.
9 – The analysis model proposed handle the dynamic character
of BRICS in the International System and it is summarized in
Figure 1.
Figure 1 Indicative chain of dynamism
Own elaborated.
Analysis of the annual Summit Statements
For each Statement, the section presents and analyzes a word fre-
quency frame, generated by AntConc, and a gure with the term stren-
gth link, generated by VOSviewer. The criteria and assumptions for the
analysis are in previous section.
To reinforce the analysis, selected excerpts from the Statements
and comments on the context of the moment are also presented.
The Statement texts are in BRICS INFORMATION CENTRE (2020). .
Yekaterinburg - June 2009
The rst BRICS Summit took place amid the unfolding of the se-
rious nancial crisis triggered in September 2008. “Financial”, “econo-
mic” and “crises” are in the most cited words (Table 3). “Development”
indicates the BRICS’s self-announced mission: “promoting dialogue and
cooperation among our countries in a growing, proactive, pragmatic,
open and transparent way” and stimulating the “construction of a har-
monious world of lasting peace and common prosperity.”
“Cooperation”, fourth word in Table 3, is one of the coupling links
in Figure 2, alongside “eorts” and “states”. The relative position suggests
discussions around them with low strength link. Given the incipience of
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the grouping, this may reect BRICS’s self-designation eorts in the face
of the crisis, in addition to criticism of multilateral governance institu-
tions. The G-20 was recalled as an important forum in which BRIC had
gained relevance.
Figure 2 Strength link at 2009 BRIC Summit
Own elaborated. Source of data: BRICS INFORMATION CENTRE (2020).
Table 3 Ranking and frequency of words at the 2009 - 2012 BRIC Summit
Own elaborated. Source of data: BRICS INFORMATION CENTRE (2020).
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An Analysis Based on the 2009-2020 Annual Summit Declaraons
Brasília – April 2010
The theme “Global Governance and Common Vision” directed
deeper and diverse debates, including the defense of “a multipolar, equi-
table and democratic order based on international law, equality, mutual
respect, cooperation, coordinated action and decision-making of all Sta-
tes.” The statement is twice as large and twice the number of discussed
points compared to 2009.
“Development”, “economic”, “nancial”, “eorts” appear in Table 3
and are absent in Figure 3, possibly for the reasons indicated in presump-
tion 8 (section 2). “Coordination”, although present in the preamble and
in the course of discussions, does not appear in Table 3 or Figure 3.
The variety of themes compared to the 2009 Summit suggests: (i)
eort to participate in more diverse debates - economy, nance, develo-
pment; (ii) dierent action fronts for consolidation of the BRICS; (iii) ex-
pansion of themes, without solid and joint actions; (iv) attention to world
transformations and the conjuncture of the time. The dynamism appears
in the incorporation of environments such as “terrorism” and “agricul-
ture”, positioned at extremes, but united by the coupling link “protocol”.
The term indicates eort for the construction of arrangements and rules,
as in the also debated Kyoto Protocol.
Figure 3 Strength link at 2010 BRIC Summit
Own elaborated. Source of data: BRICS INFORMATION CENTRE (2020).
Sanya – April 2011
The greater complexity of the 2011 Summit discussions appears in
the clearest denition of three clusters in Figure 4, populated by greater
numbers of terms.
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Figure 4 Strength link at 2011 BRIC Summit
Own elaborated. Source of data: BRICS INFORMATION CENTRE (2020).
Under the theme “Broad Vision, Shared Prosperity”, and after
South Africa’s entry, the Summit discussed the “strengthening of coo-
peration in BRICS” and “coordination in international and regional is-
sues of common interest”. BRICS was placed as an “important platform
for dialogue and cooperation [..] and with no confrontational element”,
open both to the participation of other countries and international and
regional organizations.
In Figure 4, “brics country”, “stability”, “principle” form a clus-
ter (red) by proximity and link to “meeting”, “framework” and “africa”
(green). “Security”, which appears both in Figure 4 and in Table 3, per-
meated many discussed agendas: (i) economic and nancial system; (ii)
terrorism containment; (iii) uctuations in commodity prices; (iv) use of
nuclear energy.
New Delhi – March 2012
The increasing density of discussions is reected in Table 3, in whi-
ch “development” and “developing” appear 58 times. The discussions
highlighted the recovery of the 2008 crisis, environmental sustainabi-
lity (Rio +20), global trade and WTO multilateralism. Clusters are more
complex, dened more consistently, and closer to each other (Figure 5).
Under the theme “BRICS Partnership for Stability, Security and
Prosperity”, the Statement warned about liquidity expansion policies in
developed countries, generating volatility in emerging economies’ mar-
kets. In addition to the reform of the IMF and the WB, the idea of the
BRICS Development Bank was born, highlighting synergies and comple-
mentarities. Meetings of the BRICS Business Forum and Financial Forum
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William Daldegan, Carlos Eduardo Carvalho Brics as a Dynamic and in Process Phenomenon of Global Planning:
An Analysis Based on the 2009-2020 Annual Summit Declaraons
took place, and the proposed common stock exchange came up, maintai-
ned until 2018. Cooperation among BRICS on sustainability, trade, ener-
gy, and their structure advanced - Figure 5.
Figure 5 Strength link at 2012 BRIC Summit
Own elaborated. Source of data: BRICS INFORMATION CENTRE (2020).
Table 4 Ranking and frequency of words at the 2013 - 2016 BRIC Summit
Own elaborated. Source of data: BRICS INFORMATION CENTRE (2020).
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Durban – March 2013
The theme in this Summit was “BRICS and Africa: Partnership for
Development, Integration and Industrialization”, emphasizing invest-
ments, infrastructure, security and international law areas, axes obser-
ved in Figure 6.
Figure 6 Strength link at 2013 BRIC Summit
Own elaborated. Source of data: BRICS INFORMATION CENTRE (2020).
Figure 6 indicates a clearer denition of theme axes, relative posi-
tion and coupling links. “Eort”, in the blue cluster, referring to security,
performs the coupling link function when connecting “investment”, “es-
tablishment” and “international law”, in their respective clusters.
Fortaleza – July 2014
With the theme “Inclusive Growth: Sustainable Solutions”, the se-
cond cycle of BRICS summits began, after each country having hosted
the event once. BRICS expanded intra-group cooperation, with emphasis
on the creation of the NDB and the CRA.
“Development”, “cooperation”, “economic” and “nancial”
highlight these aspects in Table 4. In Figure 7, three well-dened and
complex clusters indicate proximity and interrelationship among BRICS
economy, structure, and internal articulation, positioned in relation to
other major topics such as security and international environment.
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An Analysis Based on the 2009-2020 Annual Summit Declaraons
The environmental theme had lost strength while other themes
ascended – the blue cluster in Figure 7 illustrates this. The concern about
global stability in the attributes of security and peace are associated with
the conicts at the time (green cluster), highlighting the role of the BRI-
CS in the stability and maintenance of peace. “BRICS” in the red cluster
serves as a coupling link with other clusters reinforced by the density of
the graphic connection lines shown in the gure.
Figure 7 Strength link at 2014 BRIC Summit
Own elaborated. Source of data: BRICS INFORMATION CENTRE (2020).
Ufa – July 2015
A signicant change in the most frequent terms was the rise of
“cooperation” and the retreat of “development”. The new initiatives -
NDB and CRA - would expand intragroup cooperation eorts - the theme
was “BRICS Partnership - A Thriving Factor for Global Development”.
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Figure 8 Strength link at 2015 BRIC Summit
Own elaborated. Source of data: BRICS INFORMATION CENTRE (2020).
The main discussions on development, established in the rst cycle,
were atomized. In Figure 8, it is dicult to identify any criteria from Ta-
ble 2 in view of the number of associated terms. The discussions were
dense yet presenting unclear foci.
The arrangement of theme groups in Figure 8 indicates little stren-
gth link, due to the absence of coupling links and relative position not
clearly dened between the matters. Even so, the gure throughout the
discussions, though graphically disorderly, suggests great enthusiasm for
the agreements settled in 2014.
Goa – October 2016
With the theme “Building Responsive, Inclusive and Collective So-
lutions” the 2016 Summit was the most extensive to date. The Statement
seems confusing yet generating a graphically organized gure with high
explanatory power (Figure 9). The document randomly deals with se-
veral themes: multilateralism, the role of the UN, WTO, G-20 and IMF,
Agenda 2030, initiatives for sustainable development, coordinated actions
and cooperation for economic recovery. The beginning of the NDB ope-
ration is highlighted. Table 4 illustrates this variety of agendas.
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In Figure 9, the association between themes is dense. Five clusters
are highlighted. “Coordination” appears in one of them, pointing to in-
ternational eorts to ensure peace and sustainability. Decision structures
(in lilac) connect to other clusters through “accordance” as a coupling
link. The others complete the gure under a strong discourse of BRICS
initiatives for investment in technology, trade, and infrastructure. Regar-
dless, the focus on development cooperation was maintained.
Figure 9 Strength link at 2016 BRIC Summit
Own elaborated. Source of data: BRICS INFORMATION CENTRE (2020).
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Table 5 Ranking and frequency of words at the 2017 - 2020 BRIC Summit
Own elaborated. Source of data: BRICS INFORMATION CENTRE (2020).
Xiamen – September 2017
“Cooperation”, “development”, “support” and “promotion” (Tab-
le 5) indicate the environment of the debates and reinforce the theme,
“BRICS: Stronger Partnership for a Brighter Future” (…). Figure 10 shows
great density. Clusters can be interpreted as follows: the “international
community” concerned about “stability” and the risk of “terrorism” (li-
lac) calls for “consensus” in the “negotiations” (yellow) to ensure “global
growth” (green) with respect to culture and peoples (blue).
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Figure 10 Strength link at 2017 BRIC Summit
Own elaborated. Source of data: BRICS INFORMATION CENTRE (2020).
In 2017 there were parallel dealings with other countries who were
interested in the dynamics and interaction with BRICS. The term “BRI-
CS Plus” could establish an image of a platform for dialogue with other
emerging and developing countries. It may have been a reaction to the
emptying of the G-20, a space used as an instrument for articulating cou-
ntries outside the G-7, and a way to regain the enthusiasm that marked
the group until the creation of NDB and CRA.
In the sphere of security, discourses remain focused on conicts,
regional sources of instability and the establishment of strategies for the
use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) by countries
(red cluster). On economic issues, the focus was on critical proposals
about global nancial architecture and the proposition of arrangements
among the BRICS (the green cluster, to a large extent). The centrality of
these two axes has been present in every meeting.
Johannesburg – July 2018
The tenth BRICS Summit celebrated the theme “BRICS in Africa:
Collaboration for Inclusive Growth and Shared Prosperity in the 4th In-
dustrial Revolution”. “Cooperation”, “development”, “security” and “Pea-
ce” are highlighted words in Table 5.
Figure 11 shows the proximity of terms such as “growth”, “trade”,
“infrastructure” and “4th industrial revolution” - red cluster - reection of
that year’s theme. This cluster links to the other three and it is dicult to
identify the coupling link due to the connection density illustrated by the
graphic linking lines. Perhaps “growth” could function as the coupling
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link for “strengthening”, “principle” (green), and “world”, with a primary
role in connecting with all clusters in the gure. The BRICS Partnership
on New Industrial Revolution (PartNIR) was established in this environ-
ment, related to the Summit theme. The progress on “establishing the
local currency of the BRICS Bond Fund”, even though without details, is
an innovation.
Figure 11 Strength link at 2018 BRIC Summit
Own elaborated. Source of data: BRICS INFORMATION CENTRE (2020).
Brasília – November 2019
The theme “BRICS: economic growth for an innovative future”
highlighted the creation of the BRICS Innovation Network (iBRICS) and
formed a cluster (green) in Figure 12. In the summarized Statement, the
BRICS emphasized cooperation among them – in one year, more than
one hundred meetings in several areas were held.
In table 5 “cooperation” appears in second place and in Figure 12
“development”, “security”, “trade”, “sustainable”, are associated with it.
The defense of multilateralism and reform of the UN, WTO and
IMF remained on the agenda. The role of organizations as instruments
to achieve global objectives had been strengthened in the sustainability
agenda – Agenda 2030, COP25, ODA – and international security agenda–
OPCW, BTWC. The relevance attributed to the organizations appears in
the lilac cluster and in their links to others. “Organization” is a coupling
link of the dierent contexts in the document and its relative position
favors such connection. The security agenda close to the UN and the
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An Analysis Based on the 2009-2020 Annual Summit Declaraons
Security Council, as legitimate maintainers of international peace and se-
curity, forms the context illustrated by the blue, yellow and lilac clusters.
Intra-BRICS trade was highlighted by the advances to the BRICS
Customs Cooperation Agreement planned for 2022. “Trade” illustrates
the ranking of words - table 5 -positioned relatively in the green cluster
as a coupling link composing a commercial context next to the cluster of
“rules” and “organization” (lilacs) and “technology” and “icts” (red).
Figure 12 Strength link at 2019 BRIC Summit
Own elaborated. Source of data: BRICS INFORMATION CENTRE (2020).
Regional leaders were absent at the 2019 Summit for the rst time
since 2011, when the members defended BRICS as a “platform for dialo-
gue and inclusiveness” open to the participation of other states and orga-
nizations. In 2017 the term “BRICS Plus” highlighted an image of an in-
ternational articulation platform sensitive to changes in global ordering.
Despite such absences and the less complex discussions, Figure 12
allows the armation that there was no dispersion as in 2015, but a rather
slightly less assertive pattern than in 2017 and 2018. This results in a grea-
ter care for the conicting interests of the BRICS that diplomacy cannot
overcome, so as an international environment marked by trade disputes
intensication (green cluster).
Moscow - November 2020
Under Russian presidency, and remotely for the rst time, due to
the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 Summit had the theme “BRICS Partner-
ship for Global Stability, Shared Security and Innovative Growth”. Three
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strategic pillars - policy and security, economy and nance, culture and
people-to-people exchanges – can be identied on the gure 13, respecti-
vely in red, blue, and green.
The containment of the COVID-19 pandemic, while environment
and cluster can be identied in yellow at gure 13 and in 5 being the 19th
most frequent word. In its cluster (yellow), in gure 13, there is concern
about the consequences on “health”, “economic growth” and “wto tra-
de”. “COVID” acting as a coupling link with the other clusters: in green,
the concern is in the “preservation” of the “brics partnership” for “further
progress”. For this, “economic recovery” through “investment” and “tra-
de” with “mutual respect”, in blue, are fundamental to prevent “threat”
(in lilac) to “international law” guaranteed by “negotiation” under the
auspices of the UN (in red). “UN” appear in table 5 reinforced by “eorts”
and “importance”.
Figure 13 Strength link at 2020 BRIC Summit
Own elaborated. Source of data: BRICS INFORMATION CENTRE (2020).
The “NDB” (yellow) was exalted for its program of emergency
loans to its members for actions to combat COVID-19 as well as being
recognized as the new president, the Brazilian Marcos Troyjo, and the
opening of the new regional oce in Moscow. The formal “negotiation”
process for the adhesion of new members was initiated, while the CRA
had its documents updated while the central banks of the BRICS expan-
ded channels of communication and expertise through BRICS Rapid In-
formation Security Channel (BRISC).
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An Analysis Based on the 2009-2020 Annual Summit Declaraons
“Cooperation” remains the most frequent term at the Summits –
the second most frequent world in table 5. The “digital economy” (blue),
“brics partnership” (green) “rearm” the plans for advances in the use
of technologies for industrial production (PartNIR), on the agenda since
the 2018 Summit. Energy, intellectual property, urbanization, food se-
curity and health, in general, science and technology, environment, with
emphasis on the rearmed commitment to the Paris Agreement, were
discussed at the Moscow Summit.
Consolidated analysis of Summit Statements from 2009 to 2020
A collective analysis of the Summit Declarations compiles this in-
formation and allows a macro view of BRICS. It is possible to evaluate
how the density of the approached subjects and the involvement of the
BRICS allowed the emergence and consolidation of an international phe-
nomenon that is dicult to categorize.
The network-shaped map of Figure 14 highlights six clusters, indi-
cative of environments and densely connected by coupling links, in whi-
ch discussions and relative positions concentrated: BRICS and priority
themes (red), critical to the global economy (dark blue), views of inter-
national aairs (lilac), security and conicts (yellow), international rules
(green) and climate change (light blue).
The red cluster synthesizes an environment with relative position
within the interesting gure. In it, couple links such as “trade”, “capacity
building”, “brics economic partnership”, “new development bank”, with
emphasis on “meeting” ensure the strength link of the cluster and acts
as a coupling link to other clusters. Very close, the dark blue cluster is
the cornerstone element of BRICS: the criticism of international nancial
governance. “IMF”, “reform”, “economy”, “institution” and “represen-
tation” that, as a coupling link, deepens criticism by connecting “com-
prehensive reform” and “international aair” in the lilac cluster. In the
latter, “security council” and “strong commitment” are close and linked,
under related environments, to the yellow cluster that gathers concerns
about “conict” and international security. “Crisis” and “territorial inte-
grity” coupling link with “united nations”, “international law” and “nego-
tiation” in a clear demonstration that, despite criticism, BRICS reiterates
the United Nations’ prerogative to guarantee international security and
peace, in green cluster. Those guaranteed by the “negotiation”, “respect”,
“negotiation” of the “international law” in the green cluster and attentive
to the themes of the international agenda present in the light blue cluster
and discussed by the BRICS: “climate change”.
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Figure 14 Strength link at BRICS Summits (2009-2020)
Own elaborated. Source of data: BRICS INFORMATION CENTRE (2020).
Table 6 reinvigorates the individually compiled dataset at the Sum-
mits and contrasts the result of Figure 14.
Figure 14 and Table 6 present a consolidated view of the Summits
from the creation of BRICS in 2009 until 2020. In a graphic animation of
the annual gures is possible to identify the in process and dynamic mo-
vement of the BRICS phenomenon in the period.4 As indicated in the as-
sumptions, although the terms found in Table 6 do not necessarily appear
in Figure 14, the analysis of frequent terms complements and reinforces
the interpretation of the strength link.
4. Graphic animation available in
https://bit.ly/3rGjKL3
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An Analysis Based on the 2009-2020 Annual Summit Declaraons
Table 6 Ranking and frequency of words at the BRICS Summit Declarations - 2009 to
2020
Own elaborated. Source of data: BRICS INFORMATION CENTRE (2020).
General analysis and conclusions
The contribution of this paper is to analyze the BRICS throughout
the Declarations issued at the rst 12 Summits, BRICS’s main interven-
tion instrument and main primary source. The results obtained enable
us to move forward in the characterization of the BRICS especially by
giving great attention to the content as a way of complementing the in-
formal club form: continuous adaptations to changes in the world scenar-
io and in the members’ domestic problems and challenges, its dynamic
character; and low formality, what allows advances and setbacks, without
organizational goals, its in process character.
The indicative chain of dynamism (gure 1) is ecient in assisting
the construction of this analysis, when listed, in a chain mode, the six
established criteria. Above all, the two extremes, graphically reproduced
on a larger scale in Figure 1, demonstrate the relevance of the criteria
“frequency” and “strength link”. Both were found as fundamental result
of data modeling by AntConc and VOSviewer software and consolidated
based on the evaluation, verication, and interpretation by the authors of
the other four criteria.
The scope of the topics treated expanded from 2009 to 2020, but
not in a linear way. The Summits took place without indicating any desti-
nation or goals for its institutionalization. Advances and setbacks appear
in the interpretation of linking gures, which become very complex at
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times, indicating density of debates, as in 2014, 2017 and 2020, or very
rareed, as in 2015.
The world scenario inuences the discussion agenda, as in 2009,
2010, after nancial crisis, and 2020, with COVID-19. Some new terms
appeared progressively, such as “Peace”, “UN”, “security”, while others
became little expressive in the ranking and frequency tables – “G-20”,
“multilateralism”, “IMF” - but not necessarily in the strength link gures.
In other words, even if not frequent in discourse, they still concentrate
power in the debate environments. The linking gures portray such os-
cillations regarding the use of terms and the density of discussions.
Except for 2009, 2010 and 2015, all the Summits produced Action
Plans, an agenda of commitments for the interval between Summits. In
the last few years, Action Plans were no longer created, but the schedule of
post-meeting activities was reported at the end of the Summit documents.
While the defense of reforms and greater representativeness in in-
ternational organizations has been present in all the Summits, there was a
wide variety of terms and words along them. It should be highlighted “de-
velopment, cooperation, economic, security”, recurrent in virtually all the
Summits, but not always in the same order of precedence and prominence.
“Development” and “cooperation” guided the debates in BRICS, not
always as beacons: they reinforced energy and security agendas as part of
concerns about ensuring peace and growth sustainability, justications
for the establishment of BRICS’s own nancial instruments. The NDB
has been a good instrument for nancing projects in the Brics: energy and
transport are perhaps the main ones. In 2020, the NDB oered an emergen-
cy line of credit for its members to act in containing the global health crisis.
While BRICS was occasionally regarded as an arrangement that
would foster the cooperation and coordination of their countries, what
remained was solely the concept of cooperation. “Coordination” was
hardly used in the rst years of grouping formation and was later aban-
doned. It can be argued that the concept of coordination could suggest
the progressive establishment of rules and norms, contrary to the “in pro-
cess” character suggested here. Until 2014 there is a focus on development
of a strong articulation but without a clear format, rules or norms. The
promotion of cooperation is highlighted especially in 2017 with the idea
of BRICS Plus, which does not advance, and with PartNIR (in 2018) which
stimulates industrial growth through trade and investment cooperation
with establish a BRICS Partnership on New Industrial Revolution Inno-
vation Center in 2020.
The NDB and CRA were created as cooperation instruments es-
tablishing each member’s competences and contributions, though with-
out suggesting coordination of common policies or strategies. Without
questioning the IFIs or the Dollar prominence both were presented as
initiatives to complement the global nancial architecture. Its innovative
character lies in the dissatisfaction with the functioning of existing insti-
tutions, mitigated by the words “supplementary” and “complementary”.
In both cases, the participation of each country does not require changes
in their national laws and nancial practices, nor are there restrictions on
the performance in other international institutions.
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The NDB is a formally established organization, with its own reg-
ulations and bureaucracies, but not dependent on any BRICS committee.
As the CRA too, they depend directly for a group of ocials representing
the ve governments, not the BRICS itself.
The resilience appears in the Summits regularity and the recur-
rence of topics such as cooperation, security, development. However,
none of these elements contradict the in process character, given the ab-
sence of formal rules for the BRICS itself or goals to be achieved. The
limitation of BRICS positions on issues that may constrain the diplomatic
orientations of each member can be exemplied in two points of the 2014
Declaration. Russia had announced the incorporation of Crimea, under
protests from Ukraine backed by Western Europe and the US. The Decla-
ration expressed concerns and advocated “a comprehensive dialogue, the
de-escalation of the conict and restraint from all the actors involved”
(§44, 2014). The same Declaration met both Brazil and India’s claims for
a seat at the United Nations Security Council with generic formulations:
“support their aspiration to play a greater role in the UN” however, with-
out advocating expansion of permanent members. (§25, 2014). In both cas-
es, they are protocol statements that do not imply commitments, neither
do they place restrictions on each one’s performance.
Adapting discourses to the situations that aected International
System was a strategy implicitly and explicitly adopted by the BRICS. In
addition to the two aspects mentioned above: (i) conicts in Africa and
the Middle East: discourse for dialogue mediated by international bodies
such as the UN; (ii) international governance: defense of adjustments and
reforms in nancial and political systems, but acting within the systems;
(iii) sustainable development as an agenda, especially after the operation-
alization of the NDB; (iv) the possibility of countries associating with the
NDB and CRA, both in the contribution and access to resources; (v) meet-
ings with regional leaders of summit headquarters, except 2019 e 2020, to
expand political and economic relationships and opportunities.
The 2017 and 2018 Summits were marked by the vigor and commit-
ment of the involved parties, possibly due to the hosts’ eorts in seeking
greater commitment by members. The 2018 Summit marked ten years
of annual BRICS meetings and the expansion of the issues dealt with.
Despite criticism of a BRICS and G-20 emptying, the Johannesburg Sum-
mit Declaration shows that the BRICS remains persistent in the pursue
for cooperative actions in the most dierent elds of international acti-
vity in their countries. Examples of that are the debates about the 4th
industrial revolution and the announcement of the opening of the NDB
headquarters in São Paulo, Brazil. The NDB Eurasian Regional Center
in Moscow, Russia, was inaugurated in 2020. And the Brasilia (2019) and
Moscow (2020) Summits demonstrated continuity in the BRICS behavior.
The 2020’s Summit Declaration reinforce the strength of the group: ba-
sed on the common interest of countries in meeting in a space of debate,
without commitments.
The term “brics” is present in all the Summits Declarations from
2011 on the most frequent words. From 2015 onwards, it becomes the
most frequent term in ranking and frequency of words. While the tables
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bring together the most cited words in each Summit, the Figures show
the forces of association of the words indicating contexts, how they con-
nect and relative positions in the Summits. It establishes the term “brics”,
a reection of the consolidation of the group as a platform for dialogue
and “cooperation” among the members. “Eorts” for “growth” “inclu-
ding” “development” “sustainable” and with attention to the “economic”,
“security” and “peace” agendas, indicative of the maturing and consolida-
tion of the grouping as a relevant actor, while a vision of themselves, in
international relations.
Figure 14 shows the dynamicity of the topics dealt with: initially
formed as an instrument for defending a global economic and nancial
governance reform, BRICS has progressively become a space for debate
on themes about the international agenda that are of interest of the mem-
ber countries. In both dynamics there were advances and setbacks, de-
void of manifestations and initiatives of the group restricting each mem-
ber’s foreign policy.
In 2021, 20 years after the emergence of the acronym, at its 13th Sum-
mit the BRICS discussed “Intra-BRICS Cooperation for Continuity, Con-
solidation and Consensus”, reinforcing members’ interest in it. They esta-
blished Counter-Terrorism Action Plan, which was a particularly relevant
issue for India, given the changes in Afghanistan and welcomed the adhe-
sion of Bangladesh, the UAE and Uruguay to the NDB. The create a disease
alert center and vaccine development followed as a proposal since 2018.
The dynamicity and the way issues are treated demonstrate a exi-
ble interaction behavior. It can be presented as a specic multilateralism
experiment, lacking in institutional framework and rules, but perceived as
advantageous by the members. Even in situations in which some of the ve
countries had dierent or opposite positions, the regularity of BRICS activi-
ties has been maintained without incidents. The potential gains in domes-
tic and international inuence are more dicult to identify. In recent years
Brazil and South Africa international inuence seems to have weakened,
with their alignment to the USA and some moving away from the BRICS
partners. The creation and the participation in other initiatives, sometimes
arising from the world scenario evolution, such as RCEP, AfCFTA, SCO,
demonstrate that there are more room for maneuvering for action by the
ve countries beyond the BRICS. Therefore, these potential gains could
not be seen in the Summit declarations, except for what the Declarations
analysis reveals about the relevance the members attribute to the BRICS.
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