Development Of Globalization Processes Research Articles

Reflections on globalization processes in geopolitical thought since the second half of the 20th century

Research background: Geopolitical thought at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries was among the first to accentuate a global dimension of international politics. It stagnated in the context of WWII, however, the adoption of geopolitical approaches in U.S. foreign policy concepts contributed to its revival during the Cold War and its rapid development in the 1990s because of the need to address the changes in the power-political and spatial-political structures of the world. The relationship between geopolitical thought and globalization, however, remains controversial. In academic literature, geopolitics and globalization are perceived either as compatible or as incompatible phenomena. Purpose of the article: The paper aims to outline how geopolitical thought has reflected the development of globalization processes and how it has changed with this development since the 2nd half of the 20th century. Methods: Analytical-synthetic and historical-comparative methods are used for the study of globalization development and content analysis and comparative methods are employed to map the development of geopolitical thought and its reflection of globalization. Findings & Value added: The development, direction and consequences of globalization have been reflected in geopolitical thought mainly since the 1990s. As a result, new trends in geopolitical thought have been established; apart from the changes in the power-spatial and political-spatial structures of the world studied by classical geopolitical thought, they also reflect the relationship between global and local, an acceleration in contradictory processes in the world caused by economic, cultural, demographic, information and other factors of spatial control.

Глобализация и национальное государство: вчера, сегодня, завтра

The fairly common pandemic of the coronavirus has paralyzed the global world. The material damage it inflicted amounts to trillions of dollars. It is unclear how long it will take for humanity to overcome the consequences of the most serious socio-economic crisis after the World War II. The contours of the “new normal” after the pandemic are even vaguer. The “perfect storm” of the pandemic was created by a combination of three destructive forces: the coronavirus, the cyclical crisis of the economic conjuncture, and the nefarious trends of neoliberal globalization. The political practice of neoliberalism in recent decades, which has brought the world a number of significant achievements, has created a tangle of intractable contradictions in all areas of modern life. Both of its main drivers – capital accumulation on the basis of expanded reproduction and the global hegemony of the Anglo-Saxon elite – were called into question. Issues such as a more equitable distribution of the created wealth and expanding the membership of the elite club of global regulation are going to the forefront. At the same time, protecting the environment and preventing other cataclysms that threaten the well-being and even the very existence of mankind have become urgent imperatives of the political agenda. However, it seems that the world elite is not ready for a profound correction of the existing world order yet. The most likely scenario for the foreseeable future seems to be attempts, in one form or another, to return to the unconditional hegemony of the collective West under the aegis of the United States in world affairs. This portends a turbulent decade filled with conflicts of varying severity and duration. Although there is a fundamental possibility of another, much more positive scenario for the development of globalization processes. In it, the coordinated actions of national and global elites would focus on finding solutions to the most pressing problems of the world community, namely environmental protection, human rights upholding, the unhindered development of world trade, the prevention of pandemics, and the fight against terrorism.

Preconditions for the development of globalization processes

Preconditions for the development of globalization processes

The New Global Economic Crisis: How Will Globalization Change?

The article is devoted to the problem of the impact of the new economic crisis associated with the COVID-19 pandemic on the development of globalization processes. The authors focus on four classical streams (trade, investment, human and information and communication), which cover most aspects of international activity. The authors note that the current stage of globalization is characterized by new interconnections and interdependencies of national economies, and international factor flows, even before the spread of COVID-19, showed a weakening of the trade and investment component of globalization. At the same time, tourist and migration flows previously demonstrated their ability to quickly recover even after a slight decline during the crisis of 2008-2009. continued to grow until 2020, when there was a sharp stop. Particular attention is paid to the impact on the globalization processes of the “Chinese factor” and digital technologies. China, as a “global factory,” is central to global value chains. Consequences of supply disruption due to COVID-19 has serious consequences for both MNCs located in China and beyond. Available forecasts show that during 2020 we can expect an increase in adverse trends in the development of globalization. It is noted that the new crisis will accelerate the development of technologies of the fourth industrial revolution, which play a key role in restoring economies after quarantine. The decade after 2020 is likely to be the decade of the transformation of international production, the development of which will be determined by the pace and scale of the introduction of digital technologies. Unlike other areas of globalization, in the field of internet penetration and informatization, the pandemic played a positive role, significantly increasing the volume of interstate traffic through the Internet and other communications. During this period, social networks, Internet commerce companies, new platforms received an additional impetus. In conclusion, the authors conclude that the restoration of globalization of consumers and the search for new forms and directions of their information and communication interaction can give a new impetus to the development of modern globalization.

МЕНЕДЖМЕНТ ЗАКЛАДІВ ВИЩОЇ ОСВІТИ: ЗАСТОСУВАННЯ ІННОВАЦІЙ

With the development of globalization processes, approaches to the management of higher education institutions are changing, so the management of each of the higher education institutions is trying to conduct more effective management activities, based on the application of an innovative approach to management. Given that, the purpose of the article is to reveal the conceptual basis for the application of innovations in the context of ensuring the management of higher education institutions. The material basis of the scientific article is the study of the peculiarities of the application of innovations in the context of ensuring the management of higher education institutions and the provisions of the Law of Ukraine "On Higher Education". The following scientific methods are used in the scientific article: method of description, method of analysis and method of systematization for consideration of theoretical and methodical bases of management of higher education institutions from the standpoint of application of innovations; method of observation, method of comparison and method of induction to present the practical principles of management of higher education institutions from the standpoint of innovation.It is established that the management of higher education institutions from the standpoint of innovation is a management activity of heads of higher education institutions to ensure the development and effective functioning of higher education institutions, improve the quality of educational services and improve the educational process. It is proved that the application of innovation in the management of higher education institutions requires a thorough study of the innovative potential of these institutions and only then can make management decisions with the prospect of achieving management goals. It is determined that the application of innovations in the management of higher education institutions: provides strategic management of higher education institutions at the appropriate level; improves the quality of educational services; promotes research and development work; increases the level of innovation potential of higher education institutions; provides technologicalization and automation of the educational process. It was found that the management of higher education institutions, as a managerial activity, from the standpoint of the application of innovations, depends on the impact of the level of performance of higher education institutions; the level of professional activity of the staff of higher education institutions; the level of qualification of the staff of higher education institutions; the level of student success in the process of their educational activities; the level of provision of higher education institutions with resources; the level of innovation potential of higher education institutions; level of automation and technologicalization of the educational process.

ТЕОРЕТИЧНИЙ БЕКГРАУНД ЗЕЛЕНОЇ ЕКОНОМІКИ В РАМКАХ СВІТОВОЇ ПАРАДИГМИ СТАЛОГО РОЗВИТКУ

The essence and prerequisites for the concept of sustainable development have been examined in this article. It has been determined that the means of measuring the level of sustainable development of countries are formulated as seventeen global goals and their objectives. With the advent of sustainable development, the type of economic growth is also changing. The priority direction of development is green growth and establishment of the green economy in order to achieve the ultimate goal - sustainable development. The modern world is being transformed under the influence of global imperatives, which include political ones, scientific, technological, informational, cultural, social, economic and ecological imperatives of human development. With the development of globalization processes and the complication of economic challenges in the world, the question arose about the formation of a strategy for the development of society in the system "man-economy-nature". The role of the green economy in the world paradigm of sustainable development has been shown. The green economy as a modern type of economic system aims to overcome the main environmental risks of today reality while strengthening economic development, overcoming poverty and providing social inclusion. The chronology of technological waves has been analyzed and it was established in the period of which the green economy arises. The essence of green growth and its differences from the green economy have been substantiated. Approaches to the interpretation of the green economy by international organizations have been presented. It has been noted that in order to establish the essence of the green economy it is necessary to consider the relationship of three concepts: green growth, green economy and sustainable development. A matrix of green economy has been constructed, which reflects the interrelation of these concepts within the transition from brown to green economy on the way to sustainable development. The authors` definition of the green economy in relation to green growth and sustainable development has been given.

International mobility of students in modern conditions of transformation in the global market of services (regional aspect)

Modern global processes are stated to have significantly influenced transformations in the higher education system. On the other hand, internationalisation of higher education has become a key factor in the development of global processes. Accor-dingly, it becomes necessary to determine the specific nature of the internationalisation processes of higher education in different countries, as well as the involvement thereof in the processes of academic mobility at establishing the educational space transformation under the conditions of globalization, at grounding the changing place and role of universities as higher education internationalisation contribute to enhancing the convergence of national educational systems, providing a significant influence on the level of competitiveness of national economies. The authors define the peculiarities of attrac-ting countries to mobility processes and systematise the waves of international student mobility, taking into account the geopolitical and geo-economic factors of positive and negative influence of institutional drivers. Furthermore, dynamic shifts in international student mobility are calculated and the regional distribution of foreign students by educational level is determined. The purpose of the article is to identify the waves and substantiate the factors of international student mo-bility in the context of the transformation of the global market of educational services.

Использование лингвострановедческого материала в процессе обучения корейскому языку украинских студентов

The article discusses the main aspects of the use of linguistic and regional material in the process of teaching the Korean language to Ukrainian students. A special role is given to the problem regarding the formation of students’ high level communicative competence in the process of studying linguistic and regional material during Korean classes. The article defines the leading role of linguistic and regional materials in the process enabling the formation of competences in intercultural dialogue; it highlights the main problems dealing with the development of the afore mentioned competences and gives specific recommendations to their solution. The author analyses modern research in the field of studying the introduction of a linguistic and regional components into the process of teaching a foreign language. The problematic issue is analysed in detail; both the resolved sides of the problem and those to which additional attention should be paid in further studies are positioned. The author of the article analyses the main elements of the system of teaching a foreign language in Ukraine. The characteristic of the most significant principles has been given. The problem of increasing the effectiveness of foreign language teaching methods in the context of the use of linguistic and regional materials has been considered. The article discusses issues that are associated with the development of globalization processes, which leads to the need to increase modern university students’ communicative intercultural competences. In the article, the author offers her vision regarding the solution of the problem related to the introduction of the linguistic and regional material into the process of teaching the Korean language to the students. Furthermore, the author draws attention to the development of this problem and outlines the prospects for further research. Keywords: the Korean language, teaching methods, a foreign language, linguistic and regional studies, intercultural communication, the learning process.

THEORY OF MARKET LOGISTICS DEVELOPMENT IN SPATIAL AND TIMELINE DIMENSION

Topicality. The relevance of this study is to determine the factors that accelerate the process of development of the national economy based on the development of real sector markets. Current theory draws attention to the need to significantly reduce logistics costs in these markets. The latter include the full range of costs incurred in moving a product or service from the place of production to the end consumer. Today, in the world due to high production levels, the economic focus is on meeting the needs of consumer markets, and the expansion of geographic boundaries of markets due to the development of global processes is forcing effective ways of supply to the farthest corners of the continent. Therefore, the most powerful manufacturers - corporations spend considerable efforts to win new consumer markets. The governments of the countries are also involved in this fight. In the process there are so-called trade wars. In our view, the most effective tool in this competition is to create effective logistics for commodity markets. Aim and tasks. The purpose of the article is to investigate the hypothesis of the need to introduce the concept of "market logistics" in the general theory of logistics and research of this category. Research results. In the course of the research the necessity of the term "market logistics" or "market logistics" was proved, its essence was revealed and definitions were given. Mechanisms that promote the promotion of goods in the market (commodity movement), which contribute not only to the commodity movement, but also to the reproduction of other resources (financial, labor, etc.) involved in the logistics chain and their classification are disclosed. The differences in the interpretation and application of the mechanisms of the category "enterprise logistics" and "market logistics" are identified. The hypothesis is developed, the essence of which is as follows: "The effectiveness of a commodity rick depends on the efficiency of construction and organization of its logistics chain, and which, in turn, depends on its spatial and temporal parameters, ie on the extension of its geographical (territorial) boundaries and the stability of time border �. Spatial parameters of logistics chains of commodity markets are revealed, their essence is presented, and also the analysis of global value chains as a methodology of analysis of spatial parameters of commodity markets is carried out. Time parameters of logistics chains of commodity markets are defined and analyzed and mechanisms of their regulation are defined. A new view of logistics, which, unlike others, provides for taking into account the interests of the state, the participation of certain bodies in market processes, which will allow to involve management tools more widely and substantively in the development of markets. Conclusions. The overall conclusion of the research findings outlined in the scientific report is as follows. Organization of market logistics, which is built into the theory of organization of commodity markets should be based on the following principles: maximum coverage of all market entities by the organized (ordered) logistics of the relevant product market; the maximum share of value added generated in the relevant market that remains in the country (within geographic market parameters) with its corresponding return to the reproduction process of the given market; effective organization of commodity exchange operations at the points of logistic crossings (crossroads), by applying modern integration and differential economic mechanisms and technologies of logistics services (operations) execution; maximum integration of commodity markets into the national economy, by reducing the time of commodity movement through the market from producer to consumer based on the elimination of logistical gaps in logistics chains; optimization of spatial parameters of domestic commodity markets, by extension of their geographical (territorial) borders, including foreign states, provided that the added value is returned to the national economy and state support.

Social and economic aspects of cross-border cooperation of Ukraine and Poland in the field of tourism

The research is devoted to the disclosure of socio-economic aspects of cross- border cooperation in the field of tourism of Ukraine and Poland, which is important in today’s conditions of development of globalization processes and transformation of social relations. Such relationships are formed between people in different geographic areas, which determine their social mood and social behaviour. The signing of the visa-free travel agreement between Ukraine and the EU on 17 May 2017 and its entry into force on 11 June 2017 has become an important factor in the development of tourism in Ukraine and Poland, in particular within the border areas and in the context of cross-border cooperation of the Carpathian Euroregion. Tourists from Ukraine have better opportunities than before to travel to many European countries, and tourist migration contributes to the integration of peoples, building good-neighbourly relations and tolerance, economic, cultural, scientific and other forms of cooperation. That is why it is necessary to study the socio-economic aspects of the development of tourism in Ukraine and Poland at the level of the Carpathian Euroregion. The attention of the authors of this article is devoted to the study of the historical and cultural heritage of the four regions of Ukraine and the counties of Poland included in the Carpathian Euroregion as one of the important factors influencing the development of tourism. The article analyzes a number of key indicators of the activity of the subjects of the tourist market and the trends in their changes, as well as the geographical structure of tourist flows and the administrative and territorial division of the regions of the Ukrainian-Polish transboundary. Positive trends in the growth of a number of key indicators of tourism activity in Lviv region give reason to assert the high level of activity of tourism services market participants and that Lviv region has good preconditions for the development of many types of tourism , which can increase the flow of revenue to local budgets. Statistical materials of the Main Department of Statistics in Lviv Oblast have also made it possible to analyze the indicators for those areas that are part of the Carpathian Euroregion and characterize the specifics of the development of the tourism sector. It is proposed to form an updated marketing strategy for tourism management in Ukraine in the context of the changing conditions that have taken place in the tourist services market after the entry into force of the visa-free travel agreement between Ukraine and the EU, which will positively influence the development of tourism in Ukraine and Poland at the level of the Carpathian Euroregion.

Prospects for Russian-Iranian relations in the nuclear Field

Russia is one of the influential participants in the technical and political process of Iranian nuclear programme. Russian-Iranian relations in the nuclear field have been developing fora long time. The article discusses the factors that determine Russia’s approaches to cooperationwith Iran on the nuclear issue. Moscow’s policy takes into account the nature of bilateral Russian-Iranian relations, as well as the development of global processes. The position of Russia onthe further implementation of the Iranian nuclear programme is being considered in accordancewith the agreements reached within the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and takinginto account the change in the position of the United States.Russia and Iran have to take into account foreign factors. This is the sanctions policy of Westerncountries for Russia and moreover it has been constantly intensifying since 2014. The events inCrimea, which led to its entry into Russia, were the main reason for the revision of the relationsbetween the West and Russia. In turn, Iran has uneasy relationships with adjacent states. It wasnot so easy to build relationships with Western countries. The American’s revision of its policyon Iran’s atomic programme violated the current balance of Tehran’s relations with the West,which could lead to a further development of relations between Iran and Russia. Russian-Iraniancooperation is based on the mutual interests of the two countries including their internal politicaldevelopment and political processes in the modern world.

Economic Future of Globalization

The article analyzes the perspectives of globalization from theoretical premises of international economics and international political economy. For decades globalization has been looking like a non-alternative direction of economic development of the world. But today economists are no longer unanimous about its future. In practice, the ambiguity in views on the development of global processes has manifested itself in the return of national governments to protectionism in foreign economic policy. In theory - in the actualization of new conceptualizations of globalization and its perspectives. The article compares the axiomatics of monodisciplinary and interdisciplinary economic analysis of globalization. The author shows that the main subject of the discussion here are the changes in the understanding of international economic relations, the role of the state and non-state actors in global processes and the global governance. The comparison of the economic approaches to the study of globalization brings to the forefront the economic nature of the factors that contribute to it and the political nature of the factors that limit it. In modern economic knowledge globalization manifests itself as an irreversible process of growth of cross-border economic interdependence leading to the creation of global supranational political institutions. The key constraint here is the institution of sovereignty: states remain the only subject of global processes that is formally free to ignore international agreements. The future of globalization also rely on the political realization of its economic prerequisites. The evolution of global processes will directly depend on the search and implementation of foreign policy decisions, which on the one hand represent a political compromise at the international level, and on the other, are the result of a consensus of internal political, economic and other social preconditions for the actions of the subjects of global processes. Globalization is the non-alternative direction of the evolution of international economic relations. The protectionism observed today is an inefficient and temporary, at least in the long run. State regulation of national economies would gradually give way to self-regulation of the world market. Such self-regulation de-politicizes global economic relations, making interstate conflicts impossible and weakening manifestations of nationalism and protectionism.

Implementing Web 2.0 Technologies in Mining Engineers Language Communications

This paper is devoted to the author’s experience of applying the most popular Web 2.0 technologies to mining ingeneers’ educational process. The paper deals with incorporating such services as RSS, weblogs, microblogs, podcasts, mashups, wikis into the process of teaching English to future mining specialists. With the development of globalization processes, higher education in mineral resource universities has new objectives, i.e. training professionals capable of working effectively in the changed conditions of the global mining industry. Modern higher educational system has a number of specific features and requires certain changes in the content and organizing the teaching process. Web 2.0 opens up great opportunities for educational practice: the use of free electronic resources used for training purposes; creation of network content; interpersonal interaction of all the members of the educational process, etc. The paper notes the effectiveness of implementing some Web 2.0 technologies to make education of mining engineers more realistic, increase their motivation to become ready for professional communications with foreign colleagues, which will help to raise mining safety and productivity.

Russian community in Spain and cultural dialogue (1991-2015)

The article considers the relevance of studying the Russian community in Spain in the context of Russia’s foreign policy and the development of globalization processes. The author considers the factors of the increase of the Russian-speaking community of Spain at the turn of the 21st century, highlights the key demographic and social parameters of the Russian community in Spain. The article reveals the positive influence of the expansion of the Russian-Spanish cooperation in the sphere of culture and economy in the 2000s on the process of institutionalization of the movement of the Russian compatriots in Spain for the preservation of their cultural and language identity and on the promotion of the Russian culture in Spain. There are distinguished the most important aspects of the social life of the modern Russian-speaking community of Spain: revitalization of joint cultural work of the Russian diplomats, of the representatives of the Russian business in Spain and figures of the foreign Russian community; participation of foreign compatriots in the development of the Russian-Spanish relations at the regional level, including the national republics of the Russian Federation; increase of the share of the Russian-language press, electronic media and social networks in the Spanish information space, etc. The author reveals the role of the Russian compatriots’ community in Spain in the increase of the dialogue of cultures and civilizations, in the international interaction in the educational and economic sphere. There is also analyzed the influence of globalization on the evolution of the socio-cultural image and institutional structure of the Russian diaspora in Spain in the 1990-2000s.

Ремилитаризация мировой политики в контексте национальной безопасности современной России

The article considers the problems of ensuring international and national security in the twenty-first century. The authors examine the impact of the remilitarization on international relations in the post-bipolar world. Is determined by the nature of the policy change the military-political expansionism of world powers in the conditions of development of globalization processes. The authors conclude that the specificity of the remilitarization of the era of globalization is that this phenomenon becomes transnational, and planetary in scale. The conclusion about the relevance develop priorities for countering the politics of militarism in international relations in the context of the common security space. The necessity of formulating a set of measures aimed at preventing challenges, dangers and threats to the national interests of modern Russia, the source of which is the remilitarization of international politics.

IDENTIFICATION OF THE IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF ACCOUNTING METHODOLOGY

The relevance of the research consists in the significant lag behind the economies of post-Soviet countries from countries of the world, which play the role of driving forces of global economic globalization. Incomplete transformation of the institution of property rights, including the rights to specific factors of production, distorted perception of the state participation in the regulation of economic relationships, cause a fragmentary reflection of facts of business life of business units by the accounting system. This shortcoming can be eliminated by identifying the advantages, feasibility of the counterstand and measures to involve the economy of Ukraine into the process of economic globalization, as well as determining the priority trends of the transformation of the property institution with the subsequent revision of the accounting methodology. The purpose of the research was to identify the impact of globalization on the development of accounting methodology due to institutional changes in property ownership in the field of management and outline the prerequisites for recognizing the rent as an accounting object. The methodological basis of the research is the dialectical method of knowledge of the essence, preconditions, and consequences of economic globalization as a whole, as well as for its individual subjects; general scientific methods of scientific knowledge (analysis, abstraction, synthesis, generalization) of possible influence of fundamentals and ideas of institutional theory, agency theory, and rent theory on the accounting methodology in order to outline grounds for recognizing the rent as a component of the income of a business unit. Scientific results. It is established that the development of globalization processes was accompanied by significant transformations of property relations and changing approaches to the analysis of activities, in particular, with regard to the use of resources, distribution and redistribution of income. Solving the problems associated with qualitative characteristics of accounting information depends on the implementation of accounting principles, in particular, the principle of the predominance of substance over form. The possibility of its practical application depends on the implementation of the fundamentals and ideas of institutional theory, agency theory and rent theory at the level of the accounting methodology. The stated approach will precondition a certain change in the economic status of a business unit, making it the owner or user of resources, taking into account the availability of certain elements of property rights, and will provide grounds for consideration of economic processes associated with the use of certain resources, the manifestation of rental relations, and the recognition of the income from them as a rent. Taking into consideration the fact that rent is one of the factors of production, theoretical researches in this field should be considered as a basis for research of trends of accounting development, in particular, as to the principles and criteria for recognition of income and assets. The practical significance of the research consists in the development of an income accounting methodology and the determination of financial results of the economic activity, as well as the formation of information support for analysing business unit competitiveness and determining its financial sustainability. Significance/originality. The obtained scientific results will form the prospects for further researches, which will consist in identifying the legal preconditions for rent accounting and determining the trends of the transformation of the property institution. This will contribute to the significant social and economic development of countries whose economies have long been in the command and administrative management format, as well as to the legal recognition of the actual economic preconditions for rent accounting.

Integration of Fishery Enterprises in the Primorsky Region: Economic Rationales and Ways of Their Realization

Development of globalization processes of the world economics is first of all shown through the increased intensity of integration processes. Scientific basis of integration were created and developed by many generations of scientists. The issue of what of the existing theories most precisely reflects the real motives of the enterprise structures planning the integration serves as a matter of scientific controversy. It is established that the major cause of the increasing number of economically unstable subjects of managing with the low innovative activity in fishery of Primorye is ignoring of its system nature. For the purpose of this problem solution the work determines the main types and motives of the strategic alliances creation, and offers possible ways of integration processes development. Fishery associations with the closed cycle "production-processing-realization" and an economic cluster are considered to be the most perspective ones among them. The creation of unified technological processes during the whole production way will revive the unified production control system that was destroyed in the 90th of the last century. Simplification of the access to new technologies, distribution of risks, organization of the sharing of knowledge and the fixed capital, the increasing competence of the personnel due to coaching and possibility of the professional experience exchange are the purposes of a cluster. The offered ways of integration processes development in fishery activities can become the most important instrument of the advantage ensuring in innovative processes. Besides, the integration of the managing structures will improve a coordination of their activity, the management of fishery, and give a focus and competitiveness to all economics in the Primorskiy Krai. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n5s3p118

Globalization: Realities and Prospects

This paper states the authors’ views on the realities and prospects of globalization as an economic, political and social category. In particular, there considered the development factors of globalization in the world economy such as innovation development, expansion of intergovernmental investment, international division of labor, international production, political relations, liberalization of foreign economic relations, privatization, scientific and technical processes etc. In conclusion, the authors give their forecasts for development of globalization processes which may be the priority in the future prospect.

Globalization Shuffles Cards of the World Pack: In Which Direction is the Global Economic-Political Balance Shifting?

The article offers forecasts of the geopolitical and geo-economic development of the world in the forthcoming decades. One of the main accusations directed toward globalization is that it deepens the gap between the developed and developing countries dooming them to eternal backwardness. The article demonstrates that the actual situation is very different. It is shown that this is due to the globalization that the developing countries are generally growing much faster than the developed states, the World System core starts weakening and its periphery begins to strengthen. At the same time there is a continuing divergence between the main bulk of developing countries and the group of the poorest developing states. The article also explains why the globalization was bound to lead to the explosive rise of many developing countries and the relative weakening of the developed economies. In the forthcoming decades this trend is likely to continue (although, of course, not without certain interruptions). It is also demonstrated that this convergence constitutes a necessary condition for the next technological breakthrough. This has important implications for the hegemony debates. A rather popular theory of hegemony cycles implies that the eclipse of the global hegemony of the United States should be followed by the emergence of a new global hegemon. This generates the dichotomy of the two main current points of view—either the United States will continue the global leadership in the forthcoming decades, or it will be replaced by China in this capacity. We do not find the study of the future within this dichotomy fruitful. We believe that in a direct connection with the development of globalization processes the hegemony cycle pattern is likely to come to its end, which will lead to the World System reconfiguration and the emergence of its new structure that will allow the World System to continue its further development without a hegemon.

The processes of identity integration

Despite inevitable elusiveness of its meanings, explication of the persisting issues of identity remains the challenge for contemporary humans. Inability to achieve full insight into its complexity points to the need to corelate basic ideas as the essential way of self-cognition and self-awareness, which represent the meaning, value and the purpose of humanity. The development of global processes can, in the same spirit, be viewed as a contribution to the conscious transformation and integration of identities.