Kostin Anatoly Ivanovich

This article is devoted to the peculiarities of the contemporary geopolitical structure of the world and to the contradictions of global governance under the crisis conditions of the existing world order and the transition from centralized to decentralized globalism. Decentralized globalism creates the basis for a new system of international relations that is very different from the former global order of “center-periphery,” in which the superpowers were recognized as global leaders. Currently, we are observing the segmentation of the global space among several competing integration systems, with the great powers and regional powers included in their composition. Since under present conditions the ideas of global multilevel governance and strong supranational structures are becoming less realizable, integrated systems will become the new global centers in a system of integrationconfrontation polycentricity.

This paper continues the series of articles published in the journal devoted to the analysis of the challenges of the current global crises in terms of their impact on world politics and international relations. The authors highlight several features of the pandemic crisis of 2020–2021, in particular the “global empathy,” violation of the spatial logic of globalization and the spread of “infodemics”. The paper presents an extensive overview of current research on the Corona Crisis through the prism of social science. The common understanding of all the risks and dangers generated by interdependence, the vulnerability of the transitional world order, democratic institutions, and the inevitability of the common fate of humankind are all elements dictating the need for transnational cooperation, reforms in global governance, regional integration, and greater legitimation of supranational factors. The authors emphasize the importance of the “global health” category in international relations and its growing influence on the world order. It is emphasized that global risks derived from the ongoing crisis are inherently political. Indeed, the coronavirus pandemic provides a compelling basis for bringing anti-crisis policy to the forefront of research in the whole range of “crisisology disciplines” like political science, world economy, global studies and environmental political studies, social psychology, international relations, political forecasting, and theories of sustainable development. Finally, the article focuses on the emerging opportunities for Russia, the implementation of which is associated with maintaining biotechnological leadership in the development of vaccines and its transformation into the increasing international authority, trust, and soft power.