The world of polycentrism: the role of values in major powers' competition

The Cold War was replaced by a post-bipolar world, which is morphing into polycentricity (multipolarity).In spite of the uncertainty regarding its final parameters and structural pillars, it is possible to assert that the current stage of international relations has two main features: selective deglobalisation and a new round of competition between major powers. Centrifugal forces in the 21st century have proved themselves stronger than the necessity of consolidation in the face of universal challenges: international terrorism, climate change, pandemics, etc. Apart from economic and political contradictions, opposite interpretations of national security interests, the sphere of competition of values has emerged and is going through a restructuring process. The task of this research is to determine if value narratives and accompanying ideologies are reasons or consequences of the escalation of tensions in the “Russia - USA - EU” triangle. The author compares the role of value antagonisms today with the periodof the Soviet-American clash of capitalism and socialism paradigms. The research shows that the resumption of geopolitical competition results not from the incompatibility of certain socio-economic models, but from a struggle for leadership in the system of global governance and regulation. In the course of this struggle, the value discourse, which in general has an objective foundation, is exposed with time to profound securitisation and geopolitisation, leading to the construction of antagonisms: “democracies - autocracies” and “pseudo-values - traditional values”. It is noted that the hypertrophied usage of the values' differences, with all their objectivity, can evolve from the function of cultural interaction to a self-perpetuating factor of interstate contradictions, which hinders adequate assessment of national and foreign resources and potential.