I wonder if these plans have anything to do with the world's reserve currency being controlled by an entity that's sometimes erratic and assholey...

In the utopia where the USA is actually a beacon of democracy, the people in the BRICs countries might be fans of it, and would vehemently support politicians who align themselves with it, weakening other political factions.

That plan was DoA. They were never going to agree (Some being petro states, some being commodities exporters, some manufacturers etc) and half those countries lack proper rule of law to enforce contracts that turn out to be negative for said countries.