Russia is often singled out as the Bric country that doesn’t belong in the Brics. Critics say that with its ageing population, dependence on oil and gas and widespread corruption, it’s not in the same league as its dynamic rivals – Brazil, India and China.

Jim O’Neill, the Brics’ inventor, disagrees. In The Growth Map, a book marking the 10th anniversary of his coining of the acronym, he rejects suggestions that Russia should be dropped from the team. He argues, in his characteristically forthright way, that in terms of GDP her head, Russia has the potential to beat not just the other Brics but “all other European countries” – and join the European Union.

“If Russia fulfils its potential, it will create all sorts of interesting and complex political and social issues for the European Union and the world, besides the obvious economic ones. For the EU to have a wealthier neighbour on its borders would be quite remarkable. Provided it does not provoke conflict, it could raise the possibility of Russian membership of the EU,” writes O’Neill.