Indonesia formally became a member of on Monday, adding .
Officialy founded by Brazil, Russia, China and India in 2009, BRICS has grown in relevance as an international forum for developing countries. South Africa joined soon after the first summit, and Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates became members in 2024, with Indonesia activating its membership in January 2025.
Boosted by its new members, BRICS is now seeking to cement its reputation as an alternative to the led by the United States.
“We have reiterated several times that BRICS is an important platform for Indonesia to strengthen South-South cooperation and ensure that the voices and aspirations of Global South countries are well-represented in global decision-making processes,” Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Rolliansyah Soemirat told DW.
Jakarta was “committed to contributing to the agendas discussed by BRICS, including efforts to promote economic resilience, technological cooperation, and public health,” according to the spokesman.
Subianto takes the plunge
Indonesia’s previous President Joko Widodo refused to take his country into BRICS in 2023, saying Jakarta was still weighing pros and cons and did not want to “rush into it.” New , who emerged as the winner of the 2024 general election, has no such concerns.
But the shift in Jakarta signals more than a simple change of government. With the Western-led global order seen as politically frayed, weakened by economic turmoil and and , the countries of Global South are and risk angering Washington. Over 30 nations, including Southeast Asian countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam, have now expressed interest or formally applied for BRICS membership.
A ‘multipolar’ world
The evolution of BRICS into a larger geopolitical bloc has also been driven by the rise of as a global economic and political force. The Chinese government frequently calls for a “multipolar” world order, a security and financial infrastructure not exclusively dominated by the US. BRICS members also often discuss the global dominance of the US dollar, and the need for alternative financial frameworks between countries.
Diplomatically, BRICS is important for both China and Russia as a symbol of this emerging multipolar landscape, with the 2024 forum hosted by showing that Moscow still had plenty of friends around the world despite Western sanctions.
Commenting on Indonesia’s decision to join BRICS, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun praised the South Asian nation as a “major developing country and an important force in the Global South.”
It is important to note, however, that BRICS is not an overtly anti-Western club. Indonesia, much like founding BRICS member India, enjoys good relations with Western countries, and is unlikely to take sides in the geopolitical showdown between the US and its rivals.
Indonesia as a balancing force?
“Indonesia does not intend to break away from the West either slowly or immediately,” M. Habib Abiyan Dzakwan, a researcher at the department of international relations at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Indonesia, told DW.
“In Indonesia’s foreign policy DNA, all are friends as stated by [President Subianto] Prabowo as well,” he said, noting that Jakarta “just wants to increase its playing field.”
“If Indonesia can maintain its non-aligned position and influence the BRICS agenda with its inclusive view not to exclude or negate the West, I think it [membership] might not have much impact for our relations with the West,” according to the expert.
Teuku Rezasyah, another international relations expert and lecturer from Padjadjaran University in West Java, told DW that Indonesia could act as a “balancer” within BRICS, while also maintaining its ties with the US and the EU.
“As a middle power, being a member of BRICS gives Indonesia leverage in the global order,” he said.
The Trump effect
As takes office later this month, the US is widely expected to pull back from multilateral engagement.
Taking aim at BRICS, with being cut off from the US economy if a “BRICS currency” was created. But this confrontational approach might end up backfiring and alienating Jakarta, which has an active security cooperation with the US.
Alexander Raymond Arifianto, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) believes this would present Indonesia with an opportunity to build stronger partnerships within regional organizations.
“Forging mutually beneficial partnerships with other Southeast Asian nations will not only strengthen the region’s non-aligned position in an increasingly uncertain geopolitical order, but will also bolster Indonesia’s status as an ASEAN leader as well as its multilateral credentials at a time when the United States is veering towards unilateralism,” Arifianto wrote.
Edited by: Darko Janjevic
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