BRICS in Times of Global Instability: BRICS Expert Council-Russia Outlines Priorities for Association’s Further Growth
On Monday, June 29, 2026, the BRICS Expert Council-Russia held a press conference devoted to outlining its strategic vision for the further development of BRICS. The event, which took place at the Rossiya Segodnya Press Centre in Moscow, was held as part of the run-up to the 18th BRICS Summit, which India will host on September 12–13, 2026 in New Delhi, in its role as the incumbent holder of the group’s rotating chairship.
Amid ever increasing international turbulence, the BRICS intergovernmental organization, which counts 11 countries among its members, is widely seen as an institutional platform that reflects the interests of the Global Majority. The focal point of the press conference was the presentation of a new report titled "A Renewed BRICS for a Polycentric World: From Global Chaos to Orderly Multipolarity," prepared by the BRICS Expert Council-Russia. This landmark document systematizes an entire set of practical proposals aimed at building a sustainable model for international cooperation.
Leading Russian experts took part in the discussion, including: Victoria Panova, Head of the BRICS Expert Council-Russia and Russia’s Women 20 (W20) Sherpa; Sergey Karaganov, Academic Supervisor of the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs at HSE University and Honorary Chairman of the Presidium of the Council on Foreign and Defence Policy; and Dmitry Suslov, Deputy Director of the Centre for Comprehensive European and International Studies (CCEIS), a top Russian think tank under the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs at HSE University.
In presenting the report, Victoria Panova emphasized its objective and comprehensive approach. The report clearly highlights key problem areas while simultaneously giving a balanced assessment of what BRICS has achieved.
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The report aggregates a wide spectrum of approaches—from conservative judgements to "outside-the-box" ideas that go beyond the bounds of traditional solutions. It is precisely at the intersection of such diverse viewpoints where we frequently see strategic initiatives arise, initiatives that are capable of influencing the global political agenda.
Victoria Panova
Head, BRICS Expert Council-Russia; Russia’s Women 20 (W20) Sherpa
Victoria Panova further emphasized that BRICS is in no way bent on confrontation.
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BRICS is not building an agenda geared toward conflict and confrontation. The very format of the group, however, that of an inclusive alternative, in and of itself poses a challenge to the model based on Western hegemony. The latter system, grounded as it is in sanctions and pressure tactics, perceives a fundamental challenge precisely in our working principles: that is, one must not exclude and shut other countries out, but rather actively engage such countries in cooperative initiatives. Our purpose is not to seek confrontation, with the United States or anyone else, nor do we seek to form military blocs. Rather, we are working to create a sustainable architecture that can help the association’s member states to defend and uphold their national sovereignty and minimize the risks posed by external pressure.
Victoria Panova
Head, BRICS Expert Council-Russia; Russia’s Women 20 (W20) Sherpa
Sergey Karaganov focused his remarks on the importance of strengthening intellectual cooperation within the BRICS framework. In his words, for a long time the West has sought to arrogantly impose its own values on other nations and has constructed economic and theoretical models with the built-in purpose of propping up its own dominant position.
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The situation is now changing. What we need is a sort of club that takes the format of regular meetings of politicians, businesspeople, and academics—the very people who are capable of actively giving shape to the agenda for a multipolar world. It’s critical that we not simply react to external challenges, but that we take the initiative ourselves to generate and promote ideas in the name of the Global Majority.
Sergey Karaganov
Academic Supervisor, Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs at HSE University; Honorary Chairman, Presidium of the Council on Foreign and Defence Policy
Sergey Karaganov also noted that the modern cult of unfettered individualism and consumption runs counter to the rich philosophical legacy of diverse civilizations, but BRICS stands ready to become an essential platform for conceptualizing and promoting a more balanced set of value guidelines.
In his remarks, Dmitry Suslov placed the practical aspects of the association’s growth within a concrete framework. In the expert’s view, BRICS must position itself as an institution of global governance, not so much as an alternative to the United Nations and other legacy structures, but rather as a supplement to them, which is designed to fill in gaps in governance and to tackle contemporary challenges.
Among the priority steps in this process, Dmitry Suslov named the need to transition strategic ideas to the realm of real political decisions. As an illustrative example, he cited the discussion at the International Security Forum (held on May 26–29, 2026 in the Moscow Region) of an initiative for establishing a rapid reaction mechanism for dealing with emergency situations, as well as reserve funds of critical resources earmarked for supporting the populations of BRICS member states in such situations.
No less important a task is the project of carrying out the institutional reform of BRICS itself while maintaining the group’s trademark organizational flexibility. One of the key solutions in this regard may be the establishment of a geographically distributed technical secretariat (with branch locations in several BRICS member states). The secretariat’s purview would encompass assisting in the execution of decisions made, as well as their formal documentation and monitoring of their implementation; ensuring continuity of the overarching institutional agenda as each successive presiding member country chair hands the baton of the rotating annual chairship over to the next chair; and facilitating the organizational integration of new member states.
As a result of the discussion, the assembled experts noted that, under current conditions, the key advantages that BRICS enjoys as a group lie in the combination of its flexible work formats with the prospects for further institutional growth and development. Such an architecture for cooperation serves to boost the association’s sustainability and resilience when carrying out diverse tasks and resolving myriad challenges.