The BRICS have a very contradictory image: some fear or pin a lot of hopes on them as a rising hegemonic alliance, a champion of the Global South, while others are much more sceptical, arguing that the interests of their core members are too contradictory for the BRICS to act as a unified entity in global politics. But does the BRICS really represent the Global South? And how do they compare as an institute of non-hegemonic internationalism to the Third World organisations that defined the 20th century, such as the Non-Aligned Movement and the Group of 77?