Introduction: The BRICS in Global and Regional Governance

Abstract

Leaving aside their differences and the problem to categorize them as a group, there is little question that BRICS are increasingly seen as key actors in the international system (Mansfi eld 2014), thus there is an important space in the international politi-cal economy debate to analyse the meaning of the rise of these countries for their regions and the international system. Systematic studies of the role of the BRICS at the global and regional levels are still scarce, however the debate has been clearly divided in two camps. On one hand, a group considers the rise of BRICS as a chal-lenge to the current US hegemonic driven order; leading to political and economic instability. On the other hand, another group considers that the US hegemonic power is still alive given that BRICS face important domestic challenges, need to build trust in their group and many of their members are reluctant to lead in global affairs (Donno and Rudra 2014). This book addresses some of these debates opening up the role of each of the BRICS countries at the global and regional levels and also exploring the potential for their projection as a group in international and regional organizations in light of the challenges they face.