Is BRICS Losing its Global Relevance? A Retrospective View of the 2023 Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa

South Africa hosted the 2023 BRICS summit. Started as an ad hoc alliance of the five foremost developing economies in the early 2000s, more than 40 countries have shown interest in joining BRICS, which has the potential to destabilise the global power structure. Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were invited to join in 2024. This research employs national interest as a theoretical framework and critical discourse analysis as its methodology to analyse and interrogate the outcomes of the BRICS Summit and explore the implications of BRICS’s expansion for its founding members. Findings indicate that while the new members hold regional significance, they do not possess high power levels, economic dynamism, or diplomatic influence. Moreover, establishing a unified currency remains challenging due to the BRICS members’ diverse economic and political interests. It is recommended that BRICS devise a strategy to transcend its political differences.