Global Shifts as Reflected in Valdai Expert Debates in Sochi

Globalisation, social, economic and political integration, and the IT revolution, which to a various degree affected almost all countries in the world, shape the new political reality of the globe. Although political differentiation and heterogeneity persist and sometimes even increase, the global political world gains more cohesion and unity, while the individual countries that form it, despite their diverging development trajectories, become more interrelated and interdependent. Under these circumstances, it is especially important for both politicians, who make strategic decisions with global implications, and political analysts to study these global puzzles in order to obtain a coherent (integral) and multifaceted picture of the political state of the world. It should reflect such fundamental dimensions of global development as political system, political culture, political behavior, electoral process, party system and political consciousness. This would enable providing an observer with a dynamic image of the global political network, created by numerous interdependent elements. This network is defined by the existence and operations of nation-states, dominating in the current world. Neither Political Science in general, nor Area Studies, nor World Politics as academic disciplines could provide such a panoramic overview, as they do not have such tasks in the first place. Even comparative politics is not able to depict it, although without its methodology, it is impossible to draw such a picture. The author claims that global panoramic overview of the current political reality requires a separate academic discipline with its own focus and field of study. The article offers a possible scheme of formation and the major potential attributes of this discipline, which is referred to as “world-politology”.