Why Southeast Asia Is Flocking to BRICS – Foreign Policy

At the Brex Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 6 and 7, the group leaders will celebrate great expansion in their organization. Since 2024, the basic BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) have joined Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates, which strengthens the status of the group as a club for the main emerging economies. Together, they now represent approximately 40 percent of global GDP by purchase, compared to only 30 percent for the Group of Seven Countries (G-7).

It is strange that Southeast Asian economies were significantly absent from the BRICS activities of the vast majority of the mass. The largest economy in the region, Indonesia, joined only in January. Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam recently decided to participate as partner countries, which may be a first step towards membership. This trend clearly shows the increasing interest between Southeast Asian countries in becoming shattered in this multilateral organization. What changed?

At the Brex Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 6 and 7, the group leaders will celebrate great expansion in their organization. Since 2024, the basic BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) have joined Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates, which strengthens the status of the group as a club for the main emerging economies. Together, they now represent approximately 40 percent of global GDP by purchase, compared to only 30 percent for the Group of Seven Countries (G-7).

It is strange that Southeast Asian economies were significantly absent from the BRICS activities of the vast majority of the mass. The largest economy in the region, Indonesia, joined only in January. Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam recently decided to participate as partner countries, which may be a first step towards membership. This trend clearly shows the increasing interest between Southeast Asian countries in becoming shattered in this multilateral organization. What changed?

One of the factors is the increasing ripening of the BRICS. For a large part of its existence, it was only an informal club without clear goals other than meeting once a year. But with an increasing and list of aspiring, the BRICS is here to survive and grow in weight. However, the question is whether the mass can turn from the modern store to a policy situation and provide great economic and commercial advantages to the participants.

The block has some initiatives. All the four participants in Southeast Asia expressed their great interest in reaching the new BRICS Development Bank (NDB) and the emergency reserve ranking (CRA). NDB is a multilateral development bank that can help countries diversify foreign investment sources in infrastructure and green technologies, which protects them from excessive dependence on China. Meanwhile, CRA is a collective financial safety network that allows central banks to members to take advantage of liquid money in emergency situations, whether due to the balance of pressure in the short term, currency crises or other scenarios.

Besides economic incentives, another main sale point for Southeast Asian governments is that participation in the BRICS – more than ever – is a smart strategic decision. Participation provides the opportunity to engage in cooperative pluralism on the one hand and express their aversion to intensifying the competition of great powers on the other hand-although the Brexes are led by China and Russia and are seen in many Western capitals as anti-Western (more about this contradiction below).

Southeast Asian states seek to raise their participation and cooperation with other parts of the global south-which is uncommonly known as the southern cooperation-south-for mutual benefit. Russia is certainly not part of the global south. But as countries such as Brazil, China and India continue, they accelerate the transition from monochrome to multiple polarization in the international system, providing developing countries with more partners to work with them, not the least hedge against potential challenges and future geopolitical transformations.

Regarding, Southeast Asian countries that participate in the Brexes may hope to reduce their economic dependence on China, the United States or both, making it difficult for Beijing or Washington to force them to choose. This will become more prominent in the coming years if China and the United States are not able to tackle its basic differences sufficiently, such as those revolving around the political situation in Taiwan. But the important economic benefits of the BRICS will depend on whether the group can develop concrete policies to enhance trade and investment.

Although the upcoming summit in Rio de Janeiro will help analysts assess how the four participants in Southeast Asia are suitable, and the most important event in watching is the October Summit in the Southeast Asian Association (Asia), which Malaysia hosted in Kuala Lombur. He held the position of ASEAN this year, Malaysia gave priority to the ASA relations-for example, by inviting Russian President Vladimir Putin and other Brexes to the next summit.

Malaysia is very likely to face a problem with its approach. Not all ASEAN members participate in the BRICS or even interested in joining. One of the thorny points is the role of China as a basic member of BRICS. The Philippines and Singapore (and even a member of the Brexes in Indonesia and Vietnam partner) – have serious concerns about granting Beijing a new access point to influence the ASEAN as a organization, which already has to face divisions on China’s strategy between its members.

For example, Manila and Hanoi do not want to obtain any influence of more negotiations by ASEAN to create a legal binding code in the South China Sea, where the Philippines and Vietnam have sovereignty and regional disputes with China.

In addition, by encouraging cooperation between ASEAN and Praix, Malaysia can unintentionally undermine the strategic influence of ASEAN. The members of the association routinely describe the importance of maintaining the “centrality of ASEAN”, which means that the group as a whole must be coherent and talk about the region, especially in the face of the multilateral regional organizations such as the quadruple security dialogue and AUKUS.

But since the Asyan is completely varied in the views of its members around their region and the world, it is unlikely to reach any kind of consensus to join the Brexes as a mass. Instead, individual Asian members take it upon themselves to involve the BRICS, more mitigating and weakening the ASEAN from the inside. From the perspective of the capitals of members in Asian, the bloc prefers to focus on its own initiatives, such as the comprehensive regional economic partnership, and a multilateral trade agreement between the Association of Southeast Asian, Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.

Like most of its members, ASEAN also sought a mass to avoid the perception of China’s choice of the United States, and more ASEAN integration with the BRICS may do so exactly. US President Donald Trump has in the past in the past, threatening a 100 percent tariff for its members if the organization created a new currency or supported any currency other than the US dollar.

Indeed, by more partnership with the Brexes, Aseyan may destroy her neutral reputation and thus any opportunity to collectively clarify it with the Trump administration on the definitions. (Trump imposed an additional tariff of up to 49 percent on Asian members, although the prices have all stopped now and are able to specify them by 10 percent until July 9.)

Even if additional Asyan members join in the coming years, it is unlikely that the mass as the entire Brex is adopted. Participation in BRICS, which provides new outlets for economic cooperation and strategic compatibility with other countries in the global south, must be sufficient for individual countries that seek to participate. From the perspective of the United States, it will be necessary to provide viable alternatives to Brexes in order for the ASEAN to feel less forced to join it in the first place.