MOSCOW, November 27. /TASS/. Former US intelligence officer and ex-UN inspector Scott Ritter told TASS in an interview that BRICS is like a child, adding that the world should create conditions for its growth and development.
"Today, the Trump administration doesn't accept the inevitability of BRICS. It articulates against BRICS, advocates against BRICS, tries to break BRICS up and break it down again. This is not a healthy environment for growth," he said.
"The child needs a stable environment. BRICS is a child and the world needs to do a better job of raising it because it is the future," the expert pointed out.
According to Ritter, in a multipolar world, the US should not be the central player, but rather, one of many. "The reality is the world today is not the world that existed after World War II. World War II encouraged the development of superpowers. So, we had a bipolar world split between the United States and the Soviet Union. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, America became the singularity, the global hegemon, because the world wasn't ready to stand on its own two feet. Today, the world is ready. It is standing on its own two feet. And it's time for America to step aside and become one of many instead of just one," the analyst explained.
Ritter added that one factor holding back the move toward multipolarity is the US’ leading role in many international institutions, as they were "devised by the United States."
BRICS was founded in 2006. In 2011, South Africa joined the original members: Brazil, Russia, India, and China. Egypt, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, and Ethiopia became full members of the association on January 1, 2024. On January 6, 2025, Indonesia joined BRICS as a full member. This year, Brazil is chairing BRICS. In 2026, the chairmanship will pass to India.