Global security, political and economic trends of present time

Doctor of Political Sciences, Professor, Head of the Department of International Relations Azerbaijan University of Languages

У статті автор комплексно розглядає основні фактори, що впливають на геополітичну ситуацію у світі, стан економічного розвитку та існуючі гарантії безпеки, а також окреслює шляхи об'єднання міжнародних зусиль для протистояння викликам сьогодення. Метою дослідження виступає аналіз актуальних тенденцій у глобальній політиці, економіці та системі безпеки з метою ідентифікації можливостей забезпечення миру й стабільності в світі.

Автор аналізує напрацювання української наукової спільноти щодо трендів розвитку сучасного глобального світу, на основі чого визначає нагальні проблеми, що пов'язані зі: спадом значущості одних регіонів та посилення ролі інших міжнародних гравців зі своїми приватними інтересами; розв'язанням збройних конфліктів, що впливають на рівень безпеки у світі; діджиталізацією; розгортанням пандемії руйнівного характеру. Водночас, автор пропонує можливості для вирішення окреслених проблем через визначення пріоритетних напрямків багатосторонньої співпраці держав, зокрема у аспекті переформування діяльності інституцій, відповідальних за регулювання міжнародних відносин і підтримання миру.

global security political economic

The escalation of global problems through terrorism, extremism, energy crisis, increasing poverty, global warming, and population explosion provokes the development ofdeglobalization processes and aggravates the international competition between countries with similar particular interests.

Against this background, the deployment of cross-border conflict situations takes place, which entails the search by the leading states for instruments of real influence on the foreign policy arena, and one of the most dangerous of them is the build-up of nuclear capabilities, because, according to V. Myronenko, nuclear weapons strengthen the military-political potential of the state and give it the ability to influence other players and to get the latter to act in accordance with its interests [1, p.232].

Nuclear pressure destabilizes the world, endangering the lives of many people, provoking economic instability, and jeopardizing further international cooperation, which, on the contrary, should concentrate on ensuring the global good order.

Such events certainly affect the global economic development and the state of security in the world because the growing threat to peace has reflected the inability of certain countries to effectively meet today's challenges, and conversely, the growing influence of countries that previously were on the periphery of global integration, thanks to their strong economic growth, in particular.

Given the above, it is relevant to seek new ways to maintain peace, and economic well-being and reduce political uncertainty by identifying priority areas for further cooperation, primarily in the context of reforming the activities of institutions whose task is interstate cooperation in the field of security.

Analysis of recent research and publications

The domestic scientific community is concerned about the global problems of the present, so it pays great attention to the study of their impact on the further development of our world.

Thus, in his article K. Shkurenko considers the main trends that give birth to the state of uncertainty in the development of the modern global world [3].

A. Koppel chose a similar direction of research, pay¬ing attention to global trends in world politics [10].

In addition, the transformation of modern geopo¬litical space, given the trend towards digitalization of all spheres of activity, is studied by T. Ihnatieva, O. Vinnichuk and V. Chabanov [7], and V. Wenger has identified the features of the influence of transnational corporations on modern processes of globalization [6].

I. Ivashchuk and A. Zastavnyi analyzed the increasing economic influence of the Middle Eastern countries in the context of strengthening their role in the international arena while identifying the problems faced by the region [4].

Also important are the works devoted to the impact of the global coronavirus epidemic on the economic and political component of society. For example, A. Mish-chenko has a thorough study to assess the impact of Covid-19 on regional processes in the world [9].

The analysis of the abovementioned issues will make it possible to determine the factors influencing the geopolitical situation in the world, the state of economic and information security, as well as ways of uniting international efforts to confront today's challenges. In turn, this will contribute to the growth of interest in this topic in order to find mechanisms to counteract the escalation of key societal problems.

The formulation of the goals of the article (task statement)

The purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive analysis of current trends in global politics, economics, and security in order to identify opportunities for peace and stability in the world.

Presentation of the basic material of the study

First of all, we should note the changing geopolitical situation in the world against the background of the increase in threats of a corresponding nature, among which the greatest concern is international terrorism; unauthorized spread of technologies of mass destruction; acute situation in the “axis of instability” countries (Syria, North Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Israel-Palestine); transnational crime and corruption [2, p. 120].

The growth of regional confrontation has led to the former centers of power yielding to the new one due to the lack of dynamic development, facing crises that have shaken their stability and influence. Given this, the global trend today is the increasing importance of China and other Asia-Pacific countries, as well as the Middle East, primarily for the world economy, which in turn gives them leverage to influence the political and security situation in the world.

It should also be noted that the level of competitiveness of countries with authoritarian political regimes is increasing, and in certain aspects, it even prevails over democratic states whose economic and political efficiency today reflects a low ability to cope with urgent global problems.

For example, K. Shkurenko points out that Brazil, India, Indonesia, China, Malaysia, and South Africa are the leaders of the current GDP growth rate, which makes them more influential international actors in the world economic arena because these countries not only provide the world economy. raw materials and manufactured goods but are gradually becoming investors of Western countries [3, p.45].

In addition, when assessing the geopolitical situation in the world, one should consider the influence of the Middle East as a region with significant oil deposits, which makes countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and some other important players in the world energy market, especially in the context of the threat of an energy crisis in Europe against the background of the Russian-Ukrainian war

That is why the countries of the Middle East play an important role in the formation of the new world order both in the global economy and in the geopolitical changes because the geographical location of this region is projected in the economic plane as well, which allows to claim its strategic importance for the trajectory of the world economic processes [4, p.145].

As for the trends in the development of the European geopolitical space, it should be noted that the European Union faced a disintegration crisis caused by problems with the banking sector, insolvency of certain states, rising unemployment, the threat of food crisis, relentless migration flows and the potential tide of dangers to Ukraine.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a candidate for EU membership, has forced the world community to recognize that the UN Security Council, as the world's main international security body, has failed to fulfill its functions, given its inability to prevent and stop war crimes, which in turn has triggered fundamental changes on a global scale in the context of an escalating need to find new mechanisms for developing and implementing security guarantees.

Tensions are growing between the U.S. and China, competing for political, military, and economic leadership. These countries also confront each other in the field of technology and information security, especially in cyberspace, which plays an important role in the functioning of modern society.

China, displacing the American platforms of its market, seeks to use its sovereignty to regulate domestic security and prevent financial crises from fin- tech, as well as reduce economic inequality [5, p. 6]. In addition, there is a trade and economic confrontation between the U.S. and China, which is destructive to the global economy.

It should be added that in addition to the destabilization of interstate relations, there is an increasing conflict of interests between transnational companies (TNCs) and the countries of the world, which are concerned that TNCs are able to take control of a significant share of their national economies, thereby threatening international security.

For example, W. Wenger notes that the interests of TNCs are behind wars and coups d'etat in the Middle East and Latin America, and changes of governments in Europe and Asia. TNCs lobby the interests of individual government officials or entire political parties, support the formation of economic integrations of different levels and may engage in bribery [6, p. 34].

The rapid development of the information society also plays a significant role in shaping the global trends of today. The trend of digitalization plays an important role in ensuring security, allowing for the acceleration of economic growth, and most importantly, for the coordinated counteraction to such challenges as disinformation and propaganda, which exert significant pressure on the global community, despite the national and political borders.

So, the rapid global digitalization of the 21st century has clearly shown that geopolitics is influenced not only by global processes but also by IT technologies, which leads to a serious transformation/muta- tion of geopolitical space and the formation of its new components [7, p. 143].

In addition, in the economic sphere, the importance of digital assets has increased. The development of information platforms based on blockchain technology creates conditions for the global transformation of social and socio-economic relations into a new form under the influence of global digitalization and the instability of the global financial system, as demonstrated by the global crisis that began in 2020 [8, p. 80].

However, one should not underestimate the tension in the field of information security, exacerbated with the development of the process of digitalization in the aspect of increasing cyber-attacks on official resources of states around the world, stolen databases, and unauthorized interference in the privacy of people in virtual space, which must be actively combated to implement the guarantee of states around the world to their citizens.

Another catalyst for global changes was the coronavirus crisis, as the Covid-19 pandemic caused significant human losses, and business stagnation, and certainly affected political relations, as the situation with the spread of coronavirus infection revealed weaknesses and political disagreements in the activities of key international institutions. namely the UN and WHO, which was another confirmation of the inability of countries to effectively cooperate in the format that existed before such events occurred.

At the same time, it forced the leaders of different regions to join efforts in the field of public health for effective cooperation in order to stop the spread of the deadly virus and resume socio-economic processes. As A. Mishchenko notes, as a result, the pandemic activated the regional processes all over the world and demonstrated the importance of regionalism as a leading process for the stability of the life of the modern world order [9, p.65]. It seems particularly relevant to continue cooperation in this area because of the possibility of new pandemic waves in order to minimize losses and avoid a new crisis in the health system.

Taking this into account, we can argue about the comprehensive transformation of international relations, because there is a new world order, when the economic power moves to Asia, the spatial scope and density of global interconnections grows, their structure becomes more complex, the degree of interdependence of countries and peoples increases [10, p. 112 ].

In this regard, there is a need to reduce social and political tension, to normalize relations within the modern international system, which seems possible through the harmonization of old and new principles of regulation of the world order by reformatting the activities of international institutions that make decisions on a global scale based on transparency, equality, and pluralism through the prism of balancing the influence of different regions, taking into account the position of their representatives.

Conclusions and prospects for further research in this direction

Thus, in today's conditions, the world community must adapt to the radical changes in the political and economic plane and confront the security challenges that threaten the international legal order, through which the issue of rethinking the mechanisms of governance and regulation of global relations, taking into account the need to consolidate efforts to ensure sustainable human development, has become urgent.

The complex study of global trends in politics, economics, and security allows us to identify contemporary problems and threats in these sectors of activity of the world community, and on this basis justify the priority areas of international cooperation, taking into account the changes that have led to a reformatting of the political and regional map of the world.

The further scientific study of these issues through the prism ofthe search for effective tools to ensure political stability, national and global security, as well as sustainable economic development, seems promising.