Friedrich Ratzel’s Law of the Spatial Growth of States in the Situation of the New World Order Formation

Abstract

In this paper, on the basis of an institutional approach, it is analyzed how fair the “law of expansion” of F. Ratzel is in the current situation of the formation of a new world order. It is shown that in modern conditions the instinct of self-preservation induces social systems not to territorial expansion due to an increase in the occupied geographical space, but to integration in various forms, which is based on a single normative approach to the mechanisms of the functioning of the union. In this sense, integration is a kind of expansion of the space occupied by society. Integration unions can increase, but up to a certain limit (saturation limit), determined not by the boundaries of geographical space, but by the possibility of developing a common position on the main issues of functioning, common norms and practices. As a rule, alliances are not absolutely symmetrical and include the “core” and the periphery of integration. The former include the most economically and politically strong states. At the same time, due to the asymmetry of the unions, the “core” institutions are transplanted to the periphery and there is a bidirectional institutional diffusion, which is due to the desire for institutional convergence, and this facilitates interaction within the union. Thus, “channels” for the institutional expansion of integrable societies are formed within the unions. Transplantation and diffusion of institutions are the mechanisms for the implementation of expansion in modern conditions. It is shown that when integrating social systems in order to mitigate possible institutional imbalances, the action of institutions that are complementary to the dominant ones in the institutional matrix is included: when integrating X-matrix countries - market ones, and vice versa.