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Oliver Stuenkel, The BRICS and the Future of Global Order, (Maryland, USA, Lexington Books, 2015), Pages: 212, Price: $ 85.50
In the international relations literature, full-length books on evolving institutions being written by authors from developing countries are rare. To add to it, when the author has an empathetic perspective, is himself from a non-western emerging power, and combines rigorous research with a sound theoretical analysis, the product is especially welcome. Brazilian scholar Oliver Stueunkel's book The BRICS and the Future of Global Order fits this description. It is, to the best of my knowledge, the first comprehensive book on BRICS, a forum that is as yet less than ten years since its inception.
There is no denying that BRICS is a strange international grouping. The countries that come together under this evocative acronym - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, are from four continents and the grouping thus transcends a regional dimension. In terms of political orientation, they are all different: three are noisy democracies, China has a one party system and Russia is a democracy with some question marks. In terms of the "great power" phraseology two are traditional great powers and are already permanent members of the UN Security Council; two are prominent aspirants (India and Brazil), and South Africa maintains an ambiguous position. Similar is the divergence on nuclear policy. The differences are thus obvious. What brings them together then and what holds them?
This question has been frequently asked and in fact, much scepticism has been vocal. Stuenkel does a thorough job in addressing this question and going beyond, places BRICS in the framework of the larger international architecture. His stated objective is to document a "definitive reference history of BRICS as a term and as an institution, (and to provide) a chronological, fact - focused narrative and analytical account". The author's aim is to undertake "...a critical historical biography of the BRICS concept" and he does this in eight chapters with a sound analysis of the various historical and conceptual elements, followed by a detailed compendium of all the documents and data.
Let us examine the author's credentials for the project. Stuenkel is a professor at the well known FGV foundation in Brazil. He has been interested...