In the early 21st century, five rising powers (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) formed an exclusive international club, the BRICS. Although not extreme revisionists, the BRICS recognize an ongoing global power shift and contest the West's pretensions to permanent stewardship of the existing economic order. Together they exercise collective financial and monetary statecraft to achieve larger foreign policy goals. The BRICS share common resentments-of U.S. dominance of the global financial system, of playing junior roles in economic governance, and of serving as frequent targets of financial sanctions. They also share common objectives, such as obtaining greater financial autonomy and influence within the Bretton Woods institutions. Their financial statecraft ranges from pressure for the internal reform of international organizations and markets to operating outside the system through the creation of both new multilateral institutions and opportunity structures in international financial markets. To the surprise of many observers, the joint actions of the BRICS have been largely successful. The BRICS' future depends not only on their bargaining power and ability to successfully adjust to market shifts, but also on their ability to overcome domestic impediments to sustainable economic growth, which is the ultimate basis for their international influence.

1. Introduction: The BRICS as a ClubBRICS in the Aftermath of the Global Financial CrisisStrategic Incentives in Unipolarity and Common AversionsThe BRICS and the Global Governance SystemFormal Institutions and Informal Powers: The Emergence of ClubsThe BRICS as a ClubClubs with Power Asymmetries and Dominant Powers with Outside OptionsPlan of the Book2. Global Power Shift: The BRICS, Building Capabilities for InfluenceConceptualizing PowerMeasuring the Shift in Economic CapabilitiesA New, Multipolar World?The Global Financial and Monetary Capabilities of the BRICSRedback RisingConclusions3. BRICS Collective Financial Statecraft: Four CasesDefining Collective Financial StatecraftFour Categories of Collective Financial StatecraftInside Reforms: The BRICS Quest for Greater Influence Within the IMF and World Bank (Case 1)Inside Reforms: Resist Manipulation of Financial Market Power for U.S./Western Political Aims (Case 2)Outside Options: Create Parallel Financial Institutions Controlled by the BRICS (Case 3)Outside Options: Diminish Dollar Dominance and Build the Financial MarketPower of the RMB (Case 4)Future Directions and Cooperative Opportunities Not TakenConclusion: Mostly Successful BRICS Collective Financial Statecraft4. Motives for BRICS Collaboration: Views from the Five CapitalsSix PropositionsThe View from Beijing: In Search of Legitimacy and Unthreatening LeadershipThe View from Moscow: Russia's Struggle for Autonomy and International InfluenceThe View from New Delhi: Amplifying Voice and Anticipating MultipolarityThe View from Bras?lia: Enhancing Status and Inviting InvestmentThe View from Pretoria: Support for Growth and Regional LeadershipConclusions: Explaining BRICS Collaboration5. Conclusion: Whither the BRICS?BRICS and World Order: Too Much Pessimism Is UnwarrantedGrowth: The Essential Need to Return to the BRICS' RootsThe Tension Between Formal and Informal RulesSumming up: The BRICS, Collective Financial Statecraft, and the Multipolar FutureNotesIndex