BRICS+ Series: The Erosion of Democracy & The rise of BRICS+

BRICS+ and the New Grammar of Power

For Iran, BRICS+ has emerged as both a diplomatic shield and an economic escape route. In the face of Western sanctions and increasing isolation, Tehran has deepened its ties with fellow member states: ramping up energy cooperation with China, finalising military and infrastructure deals with Russia, and securing membership in the New Development Bank. These moves represent not merely reactive survival tactics, but proactive steps in a larger realignment of global power.

China, through its unique model of state-led capitalism, has proven that liberal pluralism is not a prerequisite for material prosperity. Its Belt and Road Initiative now converges with BRICS+ plans to develop infrastructure corridors across the Global South, collectively pushing back against Western financial hegemony. Russia, too, has reoriented eastwards and southwards, diversifying its economy through ruble–yuan settlements and forging strategic partnerships across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

The Israel–Iran confrontation, exacerbated by American military support, underscores just how fragile the liberal international order has become. BRICS+ countries are not ignorant of this erosion in Western credibility. Many of the same nations that once sought guidance from Washington now see its foreign policy as a source of regional destabilisation. BRICS+, by contrast, offers a platform where sovereignty is valued and development is not made contingent on ideological conformity.

The Post-Democratic World and the BRICS+ Blueprint

To romanticise BRICS+ would be misguided. The bloc faces its own internal frictions, divergent national interests, and competing values. However, it is precisely in its refusal to enforce ideological consensus that BRICS+ presents a compelling alternative. It does not proselytise; it does not demand that all nations adopt identical political forms or economic systems. Instead, it offers something many in the Global South have long sought: choice. The choice to trade, borrow, and build on one’s own terms.

In many ways, BRICS+ reflects the emerging post-democratic world with greater honesty than its Western counterparts. It understands that power today resides not in parliamentary speeches or electoral slogans, but in control over energy routes, digital networks, satellite systems, and development banks. Governance, in this world, is less about ideology and more about capacity. It is about who can build, deliver, and protect in an increasingly multipolar and contested landscape.

As Iran resists American bombs and Israeli airstrikes, it does so within a growing network of states that, like it, have learned that in today’s world, survival hinges more on strategic alliances than electoral rituals. BRICS+ offers these nations infrastructure, financial tools, and diplomatic legitimacy—ingredients for sovereignty in a time of flux. And in doing so, it is quietly rewriting the global rulebook.

The next decade is unlikely to be defined by a triumphant contest between democracy and autocracy. Rather, it will hinge on how nations negotiate resilience, sovereignty, and their role in a world no longer policed by Western consensus. BRICS+ is not merely a bloc—it is a blueprint. A living demonstration that legitimacy, prosperity, and progress can take many forms. And perhaps, the future will not be democratic in the familiar sense—but it may, paradoxically, be freer.

Written by:

*Dr Iqbal Survé

Past chairman of the BRICS Business Council and co-chairman of the BRICS Media Forum and the BRNN

*Chloe Maluleke

Associate at BRICS+ Consulting Group

Russian & Middle Eastern Specialist

**The Views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Independent Media or IOL.

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