New kids on the block: the rise of the BRIC and the reconfiguration of global economic ties

?This contribution examines the rise of the BRICs (Brazil-Russia-India-China) through the lens of central socio-economic indicators, including the World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators and the World Values Survey. It charts the shift in economic weight and emerging reconfiguration of economic ties as evidenced in foreign direct investment (FDI) and the emergence of transnational corporations (TNCs) and considers the resulting challenges for intercultural contact at different scale levels through two brief case studies.