Goltsov Andrey

Geopolitical Role of the West in Modern World: Leader, Hegemon or Empire?

Today protecting their own as well as planet’s security is the most important geopolitical function of key actors operating in the international arena. Is the West capable of assuming this function? To answer this question, A.Goltsov analyzes the geopolitical role that the West is playing today. The author highlights the three most important geopolitical roles — the leader, the hegemon and the empire — and analyzes their content in detail. He shows that the modern geopolitical role of the West has several components and includes joint global leadership, transregional hegemony and local imperial governance. At the same time, according to his conclusion, when performing this role, the West faces a lot of various challenges, and preserving the unity is obviously one of them.

DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2017-85-2-113-128

TRANSFORMATION OF GEOPOLITICAL ORDER IN POST-SOVIET SPACE

The article examines the transformations of the geopolitical order in the post-Soviet space. According to A.Goltsov’s assessment, the geopolitical order in the territory of the former USSR is determined primarily by the ratio of power between the Russian Federation and macro-empire of the West. However, in some sub-regions the geopolitical order also largely depends on other external actors’ policy. For example, Turkey and Iran play a significant role in the South Caucasus, and the geopolitical and geo-economic influence of China continues to increase in the Central Asia. As regards the geopolitical order established in the Central and Eastern Europe, Goltsov classifies it as bipolar. At the same time, he points out the possibility of a compromise between the EU and Russia in the distribution of spheres of primary influence, which will pave the way for the transformation of the confrontational order into the bi-centric order of peaceful interaction.

DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2016-80-1-54-72