Vladimir G. Shubin

The article is devoted to the BRICS Academic Forum, held on May 13–17, 2023 in Cape Town, the parliamentary capital of South Africa, which this year chairs the group of countries uniting Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The distinctive feature of the forum was that the first time after three years of pandemic restrictions, it was held not online, but “live”. It is noted that although South Africa joined this group last, two years after its creation, and by many indicators it is “not equal” to its other members, it adequately represents the African continent in it. This was reflected in the main theme of her presidency — “BRICS and Africa: partnership for mutual accelerated growth, sustainable development and inclusive multilateralism”, The article describes in detail the topics of the plenary meetings and sessions of the forum, the participation in them of a delegation of Russian academics, headed by the Chairman of the Board of the National Committee on BRICS Research V.A. Nikonov. At the end of the forum, a meeting of the BRICS Think Tanks Council was held, at which the report for the upcoming summit of the leaders of the five countries, to be held on August 22–24, 2023 in Johannesburg with the participation of the heads of 67 countries and international organizations, including 55 members of the African Union, was discussed and approved. Preparations for it are taking place actively, but for its successful implementation it is necessary to solve the problem that arose in connection with the provocation of the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant for the President of the Russian Federation.