Over the past two decades, the political landscape of our planet has changed significantly. A unipolar world that emerged after the collapse of the Yalta-Potsdam system and looked unshakable even in the 1990s, has gradually eroded. However, at the same time, the contours of a possible new world order are not even visible. This results in the emergence of "power vacuum" and "zones of violence" in some parts of the globe and the overall lower governability of global processes. The international institutions designed to strengthen global stability and reduce the risk of new wars are clearly not up to the task. At the same time, all attempts at their reform prove futile due to clashing agendas of major global actors.

 

Global developments clearly indicate that the modern world is becoming increasingly more complex and less predictable. Political changes taking place in various parts of the globe and often even within the same region become multidirectional. There is a growing competition between global and regional powers and their coalitions for guiding these changes into the direction they need. The role of various non-state actors in world politics is becoming increasingly important, with activities of some of them, such as international Islamic organizations, being directed against the very foundations of modern civilization. At the same time, mechanisms for inclusion of conventional non-state actors in decision-making on global problems, including the most pressing problems of world politics, are either ineffective or non-existent.

 

These changes lead to more conflicts, both between states and within them. And given the globalization factor, many domestic conflicts often escalate into interstate or international conflicts. In these circumstances, parties to a conflict increasingly resort to military force to resolve the conflict; although as early as at the end of the Cold War, humanity seemed to have been determined to phase out war from the arsenal of tools available in international politics.

 

An analysis of the changes taking place in today's world and the resulting growing uncertainties, as well as awareness of lasting impacts of these changes, urge the development of a new agenda for world politics. Of course, this is a long and multi-dimensional process; however, the initiators of this project see their task in building on the available resources and capabilities to:

 

1. Analyse the approaches describing the current state of world politics and international relations (a "new Cold War", "world disorder", "transition period", etc.); identify the range of issues that are of fundamental importance to the future of global development; propose approaches to address them;

 

2. Offer practical advice on strategies for action in the changing realities of the 21^st century to respond to emerging challenges; such recommendations could be addressed to the United Nations, other international institutions and organizations, including civil society organizations.

 

Speakers at the Round Table included Natalia Yevtikhevich (The Russian International Affairs Council), Andrei Zakharov (Neprikosnovenny Zapas journal), Olga Zdravomyslova (The Gorbachev Foundation), Igor Zevelev (MacArthur's Russia office ), Albert Zulkharneev (PIR Center ), Vyacheslav Igrunov (Institute for Humanitarian and Political Studies), Viktor Kuvaldin (Moscow School of Economics, Moscow State University), Pavel Palazhchenko (The Gorbachev Foundation), Andrei Ryabov (The Gorbachev Foundation), Aleksandr Shumilin (Center for the Analysis of Middle East Conflicts, the Institute for the US and Canadian Studies).