BRICs, an acronym defining Brazil, Russia, India, and China, was the hottest geopolitical phenomenon in the noughties. It was coined by Jim O’Neill, the Goldman Sachs economist, in the chaotic aftermath of 9/11. It was widely believed then that Al Qaeda’s attack on New York’s twin towers in 2001, followed seven years and four days later by the Lehman collapse in 2008, had dethroned the United States of America as the king of the world.
The unipolar world had given way to a multipolar one in which BRICS – the plural “s” had given way to the capitalised “S” in 2010 as South Africa joined the foursome – would relegate the US to a mere first among equals.