New Centers Of Power Research Articles

Британо-российские отношения на современном этапе (2000–2020 гг.)

The article is devoted to the study of a vast, complex set of problems in relations between the United Kingdom and the Russian Federation at the present historical stage of formation and development of a new multipolar system of international relations. Russian researchers have recently increasingly preferred to respond exclusively to current events in bilateral contacts important for media. In the present work, priority is given to the consideration of relations between Moscow and London in the context of their constant evolution and development dynamics since the beginning of the 21st century. The author traces the influence of the previous long historical experience of bilateral relations on their present-day condition in the rapidly changing modern realities. The impact of trade and economic, investment, cultural and scientific cooperation on the sphere of political interaction between the two countries is analyzed. The reasons that influenced the normalization of British-Russian relations in the late 20th – early 21st century, as well as factors that led to a change of the positive trend of development to negative in 2004–2007 are determined. The role of other key players in today’s system of international relations, primarily that of the United States and the European Union, in the formation and implementation of both Britain’s foreign policy strategy in general and its approaches to the development of interaction with Russia in particular, is assessed. In this article, it is fundamentally important to identify the cause-and-effect relationships between domestic political problems of the United Kingdom and decisions taken by the government in the field of inter-state relations. The apparent failure of the British ruling elite to conclude an acceptable exit agreement with the European Union has caused the need to divert the attention of the opposition and voters of the United Kingdom from Brexit problems to an external threat represented by Russia. The author investigates the complex of reasons that forced the conservative Cabinet of Theresa May to abandon the previous strategy of “business as usual” and move to the use of measures which seriously limit the interaction between London and Moscow in the investment, industrial and trade spheres. Not only new global challenges and threats (international terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, religious extremism, cross-border crime, cyberattacks, etc.), but also a dynamic change in the overall political landscape, emergence of new centers of power, failure of the unipolar system of international relations concept, serious transformations of the domestic political situation in the UK became the determining factors of interaction between the United Kingdom and Russia in the 21st century.&nbsp

Southern Cone countries in Global South collaboration

The cooperation of the Global South is becoming an essential factor in the new system of international relations. In conditions of multipolarity, new centers of power, new sub-regional associations, and new ties between developing countries have high importance. The Southern Cone is an example of a subregion whose states have similar economic and political characteristics. The article shows the features of cooperation between Argentina, Uruguay and Chile in projects of the Global South. Based on government documents, party programs, media materials, statistics, UN documents, the article considers the features of actual projects in each country, identifies mechanisms for their financing, and shows the features of state management of multilateral cooperation.

The G20, G7 and BRICS in Global Economic Governance

The G20, established to overcome the 2008 financial and economic crisis, has asserted itself as the premier forum for international economic cooperation, most representative and authoritative mechanism for coordinating positions and forging collective decisions on economic policy issues. Members of the G7 and BRICS, the oldest club of developed industrial economies and the youngest club of the largest emerging economies, coordinate within the G20. It is argued that in the process of consensus-building in the G20, advanced and developing countries form new ad hoc groupings on specific issues, which temporarily supersede the existing alliances, such as the G7/8 and BRICS, and allow them to pursue decisions conforming to their national interests.This article reviews the G7 and BRICS members’ positions and coalition-building in the process of forging decisions on the issues historically central to the G20 agenda: international financial institutions reform, macroeconomic policy and financial regulation. The authors seek to reveal what role the BRICS and G7 alliances played in advancing their members’ priorities in the G20 decisions? Have ad hoc groupings of advanced and developing economies indeed replaced the traditional alliances? Was the BRICS successful in using the cooperation within the G20 to rebalance power and change the rules of the game in the global system? Has the G7 managed to maintain and consolidate its influence in the renewed system of global economic governance? What resources the BRICS possess for compensating the deficit of influence on the G20 decisions to achieve a more democratic and equitable multipolar world order and ensure sustainable, strong, balanced and inclusive growth?The findings show that, despite contradictions within the alliances and common interests between the BRICS and some G7 members on a number of issues, ad hoc groupings of advanced and developing countries do not replace the existing clubs. The G7 members successfully use coordination within their club to resolve internal contradictions, develop a common position and jointly promote it in the G20. The G7 ensured strengthening of the IFI system and its influence in it through cooperation with new centers of power, with a slight increase in the IMF and WB quota and votes shares for the BRICS; minimum reduction of these figures for the G7; and maintaining control over the IFIs governance. Both alliances influenced the G20 decisions to stimulate economic growth while maintaining price stability and ensuring financial sustainability. On managing the exchange rates, the BRICS and G7 acted as partners in the G20; however, the G7 demonstrated leadership in building consensus to address competitive devaluation. The G7 drove the financial regulation agenda. The BRICS established new institutions and rules. These new institutions create public goods for their members and their partners, exert catalytic influence for reform of the existing system, contribute to building a more equitable global economic governance. However, BRICS failed to change the balance of power and the rules of the game in the existing cooperation set up.

Confucian Influence: The Place of Soft Power in China’s Strategy Towards Central Asia

China has traditionally had close relations with Central Asia for quite a long time. The main reasons for this are probably their social, cultural, and demographic bonds, as well as geographical proximity, providing China with a different status in Central Asia from those of the other regions in the world. These bonds have also been strengthened by the ancient Silk Road, beginning in China and passing through Central Asia and Iran towards Europe. Cultural relations, in general, and China’s attempt to expand its means of soft power in the region, in particular, have been a significant aspect of the ties between China and the Central Asian countries. It has drawn attention, especially over the recent decade, and has manifested in various forms. By focussing on the dimension of relations between China and the Central Asian countries, this article addresses the question of what does China try to achieve by expanding its soft power in Central Asia? The article argues that China has focussed on the expansion of its soft power and the consolidation of cultural ties with the Central Asian countries to expand its influence in the region and, eventually, to rise as a new centre of power in the international system. Following a conceptual discussion on the definition of soft power, the article analyses the status of soft power in China’s foreign policy and then, the representations of China’s soft power in Central Asia. Finally, the essay discusses the effects of the soft power factor on the expansion of Chinese influence in the region.

SECURITY OF ARCTIC AND NORTHERN SEA ROUT: UK’S VIEW

Against the background of Brexit, UK foreign policy-makers seriously consider the changes in international environment determined by emerging of new centers of power and high competition of global actors in Africa, Asia and Indo-Pacific. The designers of “Global Britain” concept - the new foreign policy strategy aimed at strengthening the UK position in the world after its exit from the European Union - take into consideration the climate changes which in the upcoming decades can lead to the geopolitical competition in Arctic. The latter comprises not only the hard power and ecology issues but the interest to get access to the Northern Sea Route and natural resources. The author analyzes the UK Arctic policy and concludes that the UK government ambition to perform as a leader in Arctic can become a long-term tendency which will determine the UK strategy towards Russia, China and the allies within NATO in the North Atlantic.

Російська Федерація в умовах багатополярного транзиту

The state of formation of a new system of world order and international relations is outlined. It was found out that there is a transition from post-bipolar to multi-polar world order. At the moment, the world is in a state of transit or transitive order, since the old world-system, which took shape after the end of the Cold War, went back to the past, while the new paradigm of the world order is the subject of uncertainty. The new world order, whose outline is more and more clearly distinguished by a distortion, is to be understood rather as a global mess that is a hallmark of the present stage of globalization. Under these circumstances, large, medium and small states are trying to find their place in the future of a multipolar world, which, according to the forecasts of most experts, will be multipolar. The United States is gradually moving away from its role as a world leader trying to focus ondomestic issues. Among the new centers of power are traditionally China, which is increasingly expanding its influence by expanding its economic presence in different regions through investments in industrial and infrastructure projects. The Russian Federation is compelled to seek a compromise from the West in the sense of recognizing its Russian sphere of strategic interests at the regional and partly global level in order to affirm the status of one of the centers of influence comparable in its power with the USA and China. A major geostrategic task for Russia is the return of the world to the realities of the twentieth century, or during the rhetoric of classical realism, which prevailed such categories as "zones of influence", "buffer zones", "balance of power", "balance of interests". It has been found that the resources available in Russia do not serve as a full-fledged geopolitical basis for designing global influence. That is why the Russian Federation has resorted to aggression and destabilization of the transitive world order in order to support controlled chaos in different directions.

Surviving Conquest: From Huacas to Cofradías in 17th Century Cuzco

Surviving Conquest: From Huacas to Cofradías in 17th Century Cuzco Martín Oliver Carrión Over the past two decades, scholarship on Colonial Cuzco has mapped the emergence of a distinct Cuzco Postcolonial subjectivity by centering on the Inka elite, that for various reasons, left archival traces with specific and even musical elements. The respective work of Carolyn Dean (1999), Kathryn Burns (2002), David Garrett (2005), and Geoffrey Baker (2008), all reinforces John Howland Rowe’s original claim that an “Inka Renaissance” unfolded in the century following the Spanish conquest.1 This “Renaissance” took on many forms and was facilitated in part by the very institutions that sought to claim victory over the Inka socio-political and religious structures. One such institution was the cofradía or Confraternity which, although tied to the Catholic Church, became a vehicle by which ethnic and local boundaries could be erected and contributed to the continuation of Huaca worship in Cuzco.2 There is perhaps no greater depiction of the cultural function and importance of the cofradía during the [End Page 324] colonial period than the canvases known as the Corpus Christi Series (1674–1680), located today at the Museo del Arzobispo.3 Art historians have come to believe that these paintings were the product of multiple native hands, and that they were commissioned to illustrate Christianity’s triumph over the Inka Empire and religion. However, as Carolyn Dean’s work revealed the canvases can also be interpreted as the Inka appropriation of Catholicism’s most important religious observation: The Corpus Christi—Christ’s presence in the Eucharist. This appropriation was possible due to the central role that the native Inka elite played during this Christian celebration and others.4 The native elite were not simply spectators but were the painters, musicians, builders, choreographers, and performers of many of the religious festivities in the city of Cuzco post-conquest. Using my own archival research and a multi-disciplinary array of studies on Cuzco, I aim to reveal how the Andean practice of Huaca worship might have thrived during the colonial period and into our present day. Furthermore, the Inka elite forged a parallel culture that both operated in synchronization with the Spanish colonial regime and at times in complete opposition. This parallel culture did not necessarily mean an open resistance to the colonization project of Spain, but like so many aspects of Andean culture, may have been understood by the native population in terms of a complimentary opposite.5 This essay will show that it was precisely the ability of the Andean peoples to deflect, absorb, and at times integrate the colonizing project of Spain that made possible the appearance of an Inka Renaissance and, in the words of David Garrett, the formation of a “Shadow Empire” that did not reach its end until the arrival of the Criollo-centered-Republics in the early 18th century (Garrett 16). These [End Page 325] Criollo-Republics would come to see the existence of a “noble Inka” as an oxymoron.6 The eradication of all that was “indio” become the porous foundation upon which the new centers of power were built in post-Independence Spanish America. Cuzco Post-Conquest To fully appreciate how cofradías were used by Inka elites as vehicles of power, autonomy, and a reconstitution of Inka practices pre-conquest, it is necessary to briefly explore the challenges faced (depopulation, religious persecution, and the erasure of pre-Inka identities) by these elites and their followers during the long period of conquest, resistance, and attempted incorporation into the Spanish imperial apparatus. Although 1532 marks the arrival of the Spanish to the Inka Empire, it is important to take into consideration that it is not until 1572 that armed resistance against the invaders finally ended with the fall of Vilcabamba (Rowe 155). Before this date, the Spanish faced the Inka government in exile under Manqo Inka (1512–1544) who used military and religious remedies to vanquish in vain the killers the Sapa Inka. Despite this heroic attempt, irreversible changes were already taking place throughout the former Inka Empire even before the arrival of the Spanish, specifically, these changes involved a catastrophic demographic decline...

The UN Security Council Acting on Syria In the Context of Emerging Multipolarity of International Relations

The article analyzes main trends in the work of the UN Security Council on the Syrian issues. The author notes that the interaction of the Security Council members fully reflected the modern development of international relations, related to its transformation towards polycentricism. This process is associated with a reduction in the ability of the US to use the UN Security Council to conduct its own narrow-conjuncture policy, with the growing influence of new centers of power, primarily Russia and China. Those actors are ready to uphold the principle of inadmissibility of using the UN Security Council to interfere in the internal affairs of states in order to change regimes. To counter this trend, Washington and its allies pursued a policy of pressure on Moscow, trying to force it to abandon an independent course toward Syria. At the same time, the thesis of the “paralysis” of the UN Security Council with reference to the conflict in Syria was actively used because of Russia’s position. Simultaneously, Russian initiatives in the UN Security Council aimed at de-escalating the situation and launching an inter-Syrian dialogue were rejected. Nevertheless, the consistent position of Russia and China forced the West to gradually realize the non-alternative search for common denominators on the Syrian issue as well as collective partnership efforts to find measures to end the conflict. As a result, it became possible to adopt a number of decisions of the UN Security Council concerning various aspects of the settlement of the crisis. The main principles of the settlement, negotiating formats for the participants in the conflict and external players were agreed upon. Thus, it was the interaction in Syria that gave the UN Security Council the opportunity to become the embodiment and guarantor of a multipolar world, a platform for harmonizing approaches on an equitable collective basis in a changing world.

ГЕОЦИВИЛИЗАЦИОННЫЕ ОСНОВЫ ГЕОПОЛИТИЧЕСКИХ ИССЛЕДОВАНИЙ: ТЕОРИЯ И ПРАКТИКА

В мире происходят новые масштабные интеграционные процессы, прежде всего, в Евразии. Изменяющаяся мировая система отношений требует применения таких исследовательских подходов, которые позволят оценить именно долгосрочные тенденции развития. Наилучшим заделом для этого обладает геоцивилизационный подход, идентифицирующий геополитический тренд. Этот тренд определяют внутренние и внешние факторы. Внутренние факторы – это региональные акторы, международные блоки, политические, экономические и военные силы того или иного актора в пределах геоцивилизации. Внешние факторы – это стрежневые государства других геоцивилизаций, которые способны оказывать влияние на всю территорию своей геоцивилизации и на территории взаимодействия геоцивилизаций. Цель статьи – определить сущность геоцивилизационного подхода в исследовании развивающейся системы международных отношений, как в теоретическом, так и в практическом аспектах. Для достижения поставленной цели авторы рассмотрели следующие вопросы: терминологические нюансы и системно-психологические особенности так называемой цивилизационной матрицы, а также возможности использования знания о геоцивилизациях в практической деятельности, в развитии межцивилизационного диалога. Выводы статьи заключаются в следующем: все в меньшей степени государства, включая великие державы, в одиночку способны оказывать влияние на мировую политику, но, напротив, вынуждены группироваться в блоки и союзы, что приводит к утверждению новых и разнообразных разделительных линий, отграничивающих одни территории от других. Область применения результатов исследования широка: от научного диалога до формирования внешнеполитических решений. Знание цивилизационных кодов и цивилизационных матриц позволяет понять стратегические и тактические задачи каждого государства.

Omride Palatial Architecture as Symbol in Action: Between State Formation, Obliteration, and Heritage

Omride Palatial Architecture as Symbol in Action: Between State Formation, Obliteration, and Heritage

The datafication of media: Big data and the media industries

Abstract The datafication of media and the application of big data services to that data are facilitating new forms of networked associations between media companies. Moreover, big data represents an emerging global format, theoretically analogous to the global proliferation of television formats; media organizations around the world are using big data in an effort to compete in a globalized media marketplace and to better tailor content to local audiences. The article argues that these two interrelated trends have intensified the merging of Internet networks and communication networks, creating new centres of power – not based on control of content but on control of data. The first section provides theoretical and historical context surrounding the proliferation of big data within media industries. The second section examines how ‘hyperscale’ big data networks are solidifying the relationships between large Internet companies and media companies. The article concludes with an exploration of how big data have emerged as a global format in the media industries.

КОНТУРЫ НОВОЙ МОДЕЛИ КОНКУРЕНЦИИ ЗА ЭНЕРГЕТИЧЕСКИЕ РЕСУРСЫ

By focusing on energy security issues this paper examines the changes in the global energy industry competition mechanisms. Gaining sovereignty over energy resources by developing countries and the revision of the access regime to oil and gas resources for the international oil companies (IOCs) resulted in changing the balance of power in the industry. In recent years IOCs have faced increasing problems in reserves’ replacement and maintenance of production levels, declining of upstream assets quality and returns on capital employed. National oil companies (NOCs) from rapidly developing countries on the contrary gain their weight and strengthen their global position. The shift in energy demand towards China and India in the early decades of XXIst century induced the quest for energy security in these countries. Author’s findings confirm that growing NOCs turn into the new centers of power and evade following the existing models and rules. Gradually they generate their own approaches to gaining access to overseas resources and ensure energy security of their countries. The paper highlights the latest changes in competition models and identifies key shifts in patterns of interaction on global energy market. Considering the increased technological competition in oil and gas industry the author assumes fundamental changes in competition mechanisms in the coming decades. Indeed, the analysis reveals that among NOCs there is the tendency of enhancing R&D capabilities, in order to gain competitive advantage and be able to secure upstream contracts overseas. The point is emphasized that competition for access to energy resources will lead to the struggle for technological superiority, thereby forming the new contours of competition in the global energy industry.

Изоляционизм против геополитики:двойственная роль Евразийского союзав системе глобального управления

This article conceptualizes ongoing efforts to develop the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), initiated by Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan in 2011. Engaging with two major theoretical perspectives, it establishes to what extent the EEU’s construction and potential expansion is economic regionalism (interpreted also as an isolationist strategy) driven by Russia led geopolitical motives. The political-economy debate of Eurasia goes beyond a common tariff area and a common market within the territory of the former USSR. Increasingly, it involves the establishment of a common monetary area. China’s Silk Road Economic Belt is building a foundation for a new Eurasia - one of the global economic and political players of this century. The economic reasons pursued by Russia in its Eurasian initiative are inseparable from economic problems of geopolitical significance. The overarching objective of Russian policy is to establish a regional economic fusion, with significant economic sovereignty and strong political influence; that is, to become the new centre of power in the global economy of the 21st century. Correspondingly, although Russian integration policy in Eurasia has not been formulated in an anti-American way, if it is successful the likely consequence will be the withdrawal of a significant segment of the global market from the economic dominance and political influence of western-led economic blocs.

Globalisation and Global Justice - A Thematic Introduction

Globalisation involves both promising potentials and risks. It has the potential – through the spread of human rights, the migration of people and ideas, and the integration of diverse economies – to improve human wellbeing and enhance the protection of human rights worldwide. But globalisation also incurs risks: global environmental risks (such as global warming), the creation of new centres of power with limited legitimacy, a ‘race to the bottom’ regarding workers’ safety and rights, risky journeys of thousands of migrants and not least growing global inequalities. Globalisation, therefore, is a key factor for today’s discussions of justice. As globalisation connects people, it also raises associated responsibilities between them. Until recently, the interest in justice among political philosophers and social ethicists was mainly focused on the nation state. However, this is no longer feasible. Since economic globalisation affects how wealth and power are distributed globally it has become indispensable to discuss social ethics in a global context and to develop principles of global justice. Global justice, therefore, entails an assessment of the benefits and burdens of the structural relations and institutional arrangements that constitute and govern globalisation. The academic discussion of global justice is vibrant and expanding. In my introduction I provide an overview of the discussions on global poverty, justice, cosmopolitanism and statism, migration, the capability approach and different dimensions of global justice.

The Role of Palermo in the Central Mediterranean

Palermo in the 10th and the first half of the 11th century was one of the big Mediterranean cities, fully integrated in the d?r al-isl?m and in the area of Fatimid prosperity. This article deals with the role of Palermo in the central Mediterranean, crossing the information coming from the written sources and from the recent archaeological finds. The written sources show that, with the Fatimids, Palermo’s harbour became a built harbour, characterized by imposing defences and fortified structures, which not only had a functional character but were also a representation of power. Furthermore, the written sources reflect the commercial centrality of Palermo, while the study of ceramics allows us to elaborate more and more detailed panoramas. This study attempts to give a picture of the productions identified for the Kalbid age (mid 10thmid 11th century) and to use them as indicators of the Mediterranean traffics that intersected Palermo’s harbour. The data related both to importations and to the distribution of Palermo amphorae is beginning to trace out a broader and broader picture of the network of traffics, with routes that already connected Palermo with Ifr?qiya, the Tyrrhenian and the Adriatic in the first half of the 10th century. The study of glazed ceramics reinforces the amphorae-based evidence and establishes the circulation of Palermitan productions in the Tyrrhenian area. It also begins to document, though still weakly, the complexity of the networks which, after the transfer of the Fatimid capital to Cairo, came to characterize the areas gravitating in the caliphate’s orbit, as well as the integration of the Palermitan market in a vast commercial area and its penetration by fashions coming from the new centre of power.

SOUTHEAST EUROPE IN THE NEW GEOPOLITICAL CONTEXT

Against the background of tensions and destabilizing processes in different parts of the world a global geopolitical reshuffling is taking place. A new redistribution of economic and political power within the international system is in progress. There are changing roles of the major actors on the global scene, the emergence of new centers of power and new alliances. The paper is aimed at analyzing the strategic and geopolitical importance of the Southeast European region for the major actors in the international system in the new geopolitical situation. In the context of the growing instability at the global and regional level and the renewed rivalry for influence and resources as well as in the context of the Ukrainian crisis and the developments in the Middle East, the SEE region is getting out of the geopolitical shadow and is back to the global chessboard as a particular geopolitical and geoeconomic zone. The European Union, the United States, Russia but also China has different, often conflicting, interests in the region. All SEE countries (EU members and non-members) bind their future to the European Union. Still, there is an erosion of the hegemony of the European project itself. After a period of a relative disengagement from the region, the United States is putting back the region in the center of the US geopolitical attention. Russia – counting on the historic, cultural and political ties with the peoples in Southeast Europe - tries to further expand its economic and political influence in the region. China is the new actor in Southeast Europe. Chinese pro-active policy in this part of Europe is an integral component of “One Belt, One road” strategy, part of the strategic game of Beijing on the international chessboard aimed at gradually remodeling the existing world order. The increased interest of the major powers towards the region adds further dynamism to the processes in the region itself. Any further intensification of the geopolitical rivalry between the great powers in the region could trigger new process of destabilization and fragmentation. Keywords : Southeast Europe, geopolitical rivalry, global redistribution of power

Strategy in an Era of Rising Powers

With the rise of new centres of power, the environment in which British decision-makers attempt to create an effective foreign and defence strategy is undergoing a profound change. Benjamin Zala argues for a three-pronged response. First, finding a way of building a national strategy for a world in which new powers are rising in different ways and at different rates that avoids the conceptual dead ends of a ‘networked' and ‘nonpolar' world. Second, revisiting the debate over the costs and benefits of the US alliance in light of the potential return of major-power alliances for the first time since the Second World War. Third, pursuing a British approach to multilateralism and global-governance reform that reflects the decreasing dominance ofthe West.

Turkey – the evolving interface of international relations and domestic politics

Since late in the Ottoman Empire until after the end of the Cold War, Turkey’s foreign policy was essentially defensive, seeking to maintain the status quo. Particularly during the Cold War, this manifested itself in a strong Western orientation, with considerable neglect of relations with the developing world. Following the break-up of the Soviet Union, Turkey’s interests diversified, although pursuit of membership in the European Union (EU) stood out as a key goal. Indeed, compliance with EU criteria was behind liberal domestic reform. However, Turkey’s non-interventionist and liberal stance has been gradually abandoned with a rise in Islamic references in both domestic and international politics, and a drift away from the EU is apparent. Turkey’s leaders have vocally supported those that the government feels are wrongly treated in the international arena. This emphasis on morality reflects the views of domestic religious conservative groups, which form the new centres of power in Turkey. However, an increasingly sectarian approach and repeated statements stressing Turkey’s independence from the West reduce its effectiveness in the region and globally, contrary to Turkey’s professed foreign policy objectives.

SOME TRENDS AND PROSPECTS OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT OF LEADING STATES SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA AND LATIN AMERICA

The article examines trends and prospects for political development of the leading states in the developing world. The author analyses the factors which encourage the rise of new centers of power, as well as trends and prerequisites of their emergence in such regions as Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. In the post- Cold War international system the emergence of neo-imperial integrative centers in the developing world is more probable, given such factors as authoritarian political regimes in the leading developing countries, inconsistent and fragmented modernization, increased multi-polarity in international relations, scarce natural resources and expansion of technologies. The main characteristics of political relations in Sub-Saharan Africa are authoritarianism, political instability, the use of violence and the sacred political power. These features as well as a high level of competition for natural resources increasingly foster the emergence of neo-imperial formations by external forces, relying on the most aggressive authoritarian regimes, or by the leaders of African development (above all, South Africa). The statehood of Latin American countries looks more mature than that of Sub-Saharan Africa; the US infl uence in the region Is likely to be decisive again for its political development. Nevertheless, intensifying integration in Latin America coupled with further economic fragmentation and political instability might lead to the establishment of neo-imperial associations around the main centers of power in the region. Thus, the imperial paradigm has the potential to be realized in the policy of some states in the both regions. Amid increasing political infl uence of the considered countries and their consolidating dominance, subordinate position of the peripheral regions and states to the regional powers turns out to be a reality.

GLOBAL REGION AS A UNIT OF WORLD POLITICAL SYSTEM OF THE XXI CENTURY

One of the major tendencies of today’s world development is a transformation of special coordinates of world politics, shifting geopolitics of the XXI century world system as a result of two processes: globalization and regionalization. This entails the consolidation of new centers of power including global regions which are transforming into key units of world politics of the XXI century.