The most recent summit of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa has now ended amid excited media coverage. Brics – which is expanding to 11 members – is often portrayed as a rising counterweight to a US-led G7 and established global governance order, plus a potential threat to dollar dominance. The hyperbole is woefully exaggerated. Global weight is surely now more dispersed than before. China is the second-largest world economy, swamping individual European countries and Japan, and US-China tensions have intensified. The attention paid to Brics and China’s dominant role in the group reflects that reality. ... (full story)