When Jim O'Neill, the Goldman Sachs banker, popularised the term BRIC in 2001, he was talking about investment opportunities in the fastest growing economies in the world: Brazil, Russia, India and China, with South Africa added in 2010 making the acronym up to BRICS. The countries identified swiftly formed a club, with leaders meeting regularly for summits. Vladimir Putin may well dodge sanctions to attend the next meeting in August in South Africa. The political clout of the BRICS is turning out to be as important as their increasing economic heft. Assumptions in 2001 that these countries would become friendly…