Half the world's population just sat down at a table Washington isn't invited to — and American sanctions are the target on the agenda. Leaders from 11 BRICS nations convened in New Delhi this weekend for the bloc's 18th summit, with conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine and the erosion of U.S. economic leverage shaping every discussion.
The stakes are plain. While Washington commits billions to foreign wars and enforces sanctions that increasingly just push nations into each other's arms, our competitors are building a parallel financial and diplomatic architecture designed to route around us entirely.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held separate bilateral talks Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian ahead of the two-day summit. Putin's trip marks his first to India since the Ukraine war began, and the Kremlin is already touting record monthly Russian energy imports by India. Putin used the visit to criticize American tariffs as "illegal" and "unacceptable," according to Fox News.
Iran, meanwhile, is seeking membership in the BRICS New Development Bank — an economic lifeline as Washington ramps up sanctions pressure. Fox News reported that Tehran's effort comes as many of its largest remaining economic partners, including China, India, Russia, and the UAE, are all represented in New Delhi, giving Iran a rare opening to engage key trading partners collectively. Iranian President Pezeshkian was blunt about the bloc's purpose, telling Iran's IRNA news agency that "BRICS was established to counter unilateralism."
Chinese President Xi Jinping is also attending — his first visit to India in seven years — marking the biggest step yet in a cautious thaw between the nuclear-armed rivals after a deadly 2020 military clash along their disputed Himalayan border. Beijing's foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Friday that "China stands ready to work with India... by strengthening communication, enhancing cooperation, and properly handling differences." Al-Monitor noted that deep mistrust remains, with contested frontiers and a widening trade deficit still complicating ties.
The Gulf conflict has emerged as the summit's central fault line. Al-Monitor quoted Harsh V. Pant of India's Observer Research Foundation calling it "the central fault line this time," and noting that what was seen as an achievement — BRICS expansion — now looks like "a big constraint." The bloc's foreign ministers failed to agree on a joint statement when they met in May. BRICS now includes Saudi Arabia and the UAE alongside Iran — countries with sharply differing positions on the U.S.-Israel war launched in February.
Al-Monitor framed the summit as "overshadowed by war." Fox News framed it as a "high-stakes" test of the bloc's cohesion. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution kept it procedural, noting the expansion to 11 nations representing half the world's population. What none of them pressed is the question that matters most to Americans: if sanctions and military commitments aren't working, why does Washington keep doubling down?
The unipolar moment is over. The question is whether anyone in Washington has noticed — or whether they'll keep writing checks the American people can't cash while the rest of the world builds without us.
