The end of the cold war led Francis Fukuyama to write an essay — “The End of History?” — signalling the end of a bipolar world and a move towards the dominance of western liberal democracy as the final form of human government. While the collapse of the Soviet Union also implied, for some, the beginning of a unipolar world, the reality in this day and age, however is vastly different. Indeed, the world has changed dramatically since the end of the cold war moving towards a multi-polar world with increased social, political and importantly financial interdependence between nation-states.

Indeed, the construct of BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa] as an entity in 2009 reflects that reality. It is an expression of the shift that had already begun to take place with the advent of the financial meltdown in 2007 and the rise of the BRICS nations, their fast-growing economies and increasing influence in regional and global affairs. As of today, BRICS alone represents:

25 percent of the world’s economy/GDP;

17 percent of global trade;

50 percent of global economic growth;

$200 billion trade value amongst them.

Moreover, the BRICS nations alone represents close to 3 billion people, thus accounting for almost 43% of the world population, which itself is testimony to the significant role that this social and political entity can play in global affairs.

So far, four BRICS summits have been held: the first in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on June 16, 2009; second in Brasilia on April 15, 2010, the third in Sanya (China) on April 14, 2011 and the fourth in New Delhi on March 29, 2012. The most recent was the fifth BRICS summit hosted by South Africa during March 26-27, 2013, completing the first cycle of BRICS summits. Moreover, the BRICS leaders have also met on the sidelines of other multilateral meetings.

This recent summit held in Durban and the released summit declaration “BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Development, Integration and Industrialisation” itself exemplified the efforts to engage South Africa within the BRICS framework as fully as possible. While much was expected from the summit in the context of the earlier efforts and discussion for creating a BRICS Development Bank with a common currency pool to assist with development and other loans as an alternative to the IMF and other international financial institutions. However, there remained a lack of consensus on such a BRICS Bank as the member-states are yet to clearly formulate a workable plan and consensus on the headquarters of the bank, the membership fees, voting rights, and the nature of the projects to be financed, that is, whether the funds will remain exclusively for BRICS projects or would extend to third-party projects as well.
Other than this, the summit did make progress on the concept of long-term economic cooperation and areas of common infrastructure projects. Another important achievement by the five countries has been the establishment of the BRICS Business Council that will bring together the leading business structures of the five members.

Given this, it might be apt to say that a huge responsibility rests on the shoulders of the BRICS nations and their leadership. From being termed developing economies to acquiring the status of emerging markets, these nations represent the future and will indeed play an important role in spearheading the direction that the world moves in and more importantly the degree of success it can achieve in facing several challenges in spheres of global (political and economic) stability, finance, security, energy, economic trade, health, science and technology as well as global conflict resolutions. Here are a few suggestions for policy makers to set the agenda for the second cycle of summits that will take place in the future:

• While the creation of the BRICS Bank will remain a challenge, concrete steps need to be taken towards outlining voting rights, contribution of member-countries and selection of heads on a rotational basis. Overall, the primary goal of creating this bank should be to complement and not be seen as a replacement of the current financial institutions, as it is in very early stages. Moreover, this will garner support from the US and European nations and at the same time is likely to be more transparent and democratic. 
• The issue of nuclear security will be crucial as nuclear energy will remain an important component of the energy-mix in the BRICS nations and given their enhanced bilateral nuclear trade for peaceful purposes and the domestic challenges in this context. This needs to be addressed with greater caution and effort.
• The non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and pressing for a move towards complete disarmament by nuclear-weapons states should be reaffirmed.
• Reaffirming commitment and making a concrete plan to achieving the millennium development goals, domestically, so as to set the stage for BRICS to address global issues.
• Increased engagement and cooperation with and possible inclusion of non-BRICS developing countries to enhance social, political and economic clout. Especially involving the CIVETS, a term coined to describe the six favoured emerging markets of Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa.
• Continued international negotiations and steps to enhance the legitimacy of international organisations and financial institutions with China and Russia playing the lead role as permanent members of the UNSC.
• The BRICS nations will specifically need to address the challenges faced by Sub-Saharan Africa and engage more inclusively with these African nations and therefore use its resources more efficiently where they are needed most so as to be seen as an organisation that seeks to make a difference beyond its borders.