Welcome to the BRICS Lab!
The BRICS Lab is a research initiative at the MIT Center for International Studies (CIS) that examines the role of the BRICS group in international affairs and sustainable development.
Why study BRICS? The BRICS group—a strategic partnership of new powers and emerging economies—is becoming an increasingly influential force in global governance. It advocates for the reform of international institutions, challenges dominant global policy narratives, creates alternative institutions, and promotes coordinated action across sectors such as finance, industrial development, agriculture, trade, health, and outer space. BRICS—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—has recently expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia has been invited but has not formalized membership. It also engages a growing network of partners, including Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, and Uzbekistan.
As debates about the future of global governance intensify, understanding BRICS is essential—for scholars studying power shifts, multilateralism, and collective responses to global challenges, and for policymakers navigating an increasingly multipolar and complex international landscape.
Our approach:
The Lab was founded and is led by Mihaela Papa, who recently joined MIT as Director of Research and Principal Research Scientist, after more than a decade of research on BRICS. It examines BRICS both as a geopolitical actor and as a lens for analyzing global power dynamics and informal governance.
The BRICS Lab is new—and intentionally experimental. The materials presented here comprise both published and ongoing research and policy analysis, and are intended to share ideas, inform and invite debate, and foster engagement across disciplines and policy communities.
If you are an MIT student interested in BRICS research, please email Mihaela at mpapa@mit.edu.