Conceptualization of Transcontinental Political Projects: Methodological Problems and Heuristic Opportunities

Abstract

The leading states of the modern world declare the creation and implementation of large-scale political projects aimed at changing certain areas of world politics in accordance with their economic, social, military-strategic and socio-cultural interests. In 2014, Vladimir Putin outlined the contours of the “great project” of the Russian state-civilization in his address to the Federal Assembly. In the same year, Barack Obama, speaking from the United Nations rostrum, laid out the general characteristics of the new American civilizational project. In 2016, Martin Schultz formulated the concept of an updated “Europe” civilizational project. From 2017 to 2019 Latin American, Asian and African political leaders presented their own political projects at the regional and global levels. Conceptualization of such projects is successfully carried out in modern social sciences and humanities studies. This takes place on transcontinental, civilizational, geopolitical, ideological and military-strategic grounds. At the same time, the terminological apparatus of the last four has been developed in detail and has passed the necessary testing in modern social sciences and humanities studies. That notwithstanding, the transcontinental basis for the identifi cation of large-scale political projects has not received proper conceptualization. This article presents the author’s formulation of the concept of “transcontinental political project,” defi ned by its essential characteristics, the mechanisms of formation of such projects and the diff erences between a transcontinental political project and civilizational and global projects.

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