The interest of the international academic community in BRICS is constantly growing. International relations scholars are trying to explain the phenomenon of the transformation of the BRICS from an acronym into a functioning institution, to determine its potential to influence the decision-making process on key issues of global governance and to transform the current system, as well as to predict the future of the association. At various stages of BRICS development some scholars constantly predicted the inevitable collapse of the association, others questioned its ability to seriously influence the development of the international system and its institutions, while others confirmed that BRICS has a real opportunity to influence the transformation of the system, but believed that such an influence is extremely destructive. However, BRICS has also many supporters, not only among the academic community of member countries and other developing nations, but also among representatives of Western states.

In this regard, it is interesting to trace how BRICS is perceived by members of the academic community, what opinions prevailed at different stages of the institute's development, what factors could lead to a change in the nature of the assessments made, what methodological approaches are used, how serious is the influence of the general ideology that the author adheres to, and also highlight the main trends in ongoing research. Trying to answer these questions is the goal of this study.

This article considers two groups of studies on the role of BRICS in the modern system of international relations. The first includes representatives of Western countries and universities. The second analyzes the position of non-Western authors. At the same time, the aim of the study is to demonstrate the spectrum of attitudes towards BRICS by the international academic community, the methods used, the prevailing approaches, and not to express the point of view of the author of this article regarding the place, role and future of BRICS.