What Else?

There were no major surprises that came out of last week's BRICS summit. That said, it remains clear that the group is growing and probably has its sights on re-setting the world economic order that to our benefit has relied upon the US Dollar as its leading reserve currency really since the end of World War II.

Aside from the now 9 full members of BRICS, another 26 nations sent delegations. There appears to be no current push to form a monetary bloc such as the Euro-Zone, but they did print up some ceremonial BRICS currency just to make sure that they did send a message.

No, the BRICS are not (yet) a military alliance either. What they are, are those nations that either feel left out, or think they can create an edge by forming a direction for international trade or in global affairs that does not rely on the US or NATO for leadership. We should be watching this develop over coming years much more closely than our leadership in DC appears to be. Hopefully, we are already gaming out various scenarios.