The modern world is in a transitional period from a monopolar system, established after the defeat of the USSR in the Cold War, to a bipolar system. It has become quite real thanks to the constant increase in the influence of the Russian Federation in the world.
Description and features
The bipolar international system is a variant of dividing our entire world into two huge groupings of countries that seriously differ from each other in their economic, ideological and cultural factors. From the point of view of the development of civilization, this is a much more profitable option, in which the leader of each "pole" is obliged to create conditions in his zone of influence that are beneficial to states and ordinary people. Simply put, this is the standard version of competition in the market. The more enterprises compete with each other, the higher the product quality, lower cost, more promotions, bonuses and so on.
History of polarity before the formation of the USSR
Until the US entered the world stage and the formation of the USSR, our planet practically did not know what a bipolar system was. Due to the weak development of technology and continuous wars, there was such a situation that in each individual region there were several powers at once, whichcould compete with each other in all respects. For example, in Europe these could include Germany, England, France and Spain. Of the neighbors of Russia, one can note Turkey and Sweden (which was far from last in Europe, too). And the same can be said about any part of the world. There was only one thing in common: no one could claim world domination, although England, with her huge fleet, made every possible effort for this. But everything changed with the rise of two superpowers, the US and the USSR.
Bipolar world before the end of the Cold War
World War II was the main cause of bipolarity. On the one hand - the Soviet Union, which suffered huge losses, but managed to restore industry and economy in the shortest possible time, owning most of the world and an incredible amount of resources. On the other hand, the United States, which throughout the war successfully traded with both sides and actively developed its own state. Moreover, when the result of the confrontation became obvious, they quickly got their bearings and even managed to fight a little with their landing units. The rest of the countries suffered such serious losses that all their efforts were directed to recovery, and not to world domination. As a result, two huge powers began to "butt" with each other, not listening too much to the opinions of others. And so it continued until the late 80s, early 90s, when the USSR lost in the Cold War, which was the beginning of the collapse of the bipolar system.
Monopolar world
SFrom then until about 2014, the United States dominated the world. They intervened in all conflicts and took everything they wanted (land, resources, people, technology, and more). No one could really oppose the power of this country, because in addition to a really strong army, it also had serious information support that could even convince that black is white. As a result, the current tension in the world, the development of the drug trade, the formation of numerous terrorist groups, and so on.
Current situation
The second stage of the formation of the bipolar system of the world began around 2014 and continues to this day. The Russian Federation is still far enough away from the moment when they will begin to reckon with it in the same way as with the United States, but all the actions taken now are confidently leading precisely to this outcome. In addition, China is quite active, but, unlike the United States or the Russian Federation, China has never had world domination as its main goal. The population of this country is large enough and constantly increasing, so that in the end it will still become the leading power in the world.
Features of monopolarity
Monopolarity, unlike the bipolar system of the world, does not imply the need to take into account the opinions of other countries. It has only one option for further development: the unification of all states under one flag, the creation of a certain global structure, and in fact - a single one throughoutcountry planet. Any other actions aimed primarily at increasing the power of their country (in our case, the United States) gradually lead to the fact that monopolarity ceases to attract people and they are looking for any alternative.
With proper use of their own influence, it would be possible to change the situation in the other direction and create allied countries instead of satellite countries. It would have been much more profitable, but it would not have produced the kind of power growth that the United States has shown all along. At this stage, it is too late to try to do something, but the United States will hold on to the elusive title of world master to the last.
Possible future
The current development of human civilization can only lead to three main options. Perhaps it will be a global conflict between several groups, well described in Orwell's book "1984". It will be needed simply to unite citizens in the image of an evil enemy. At the same time, all contacts between countries will be disrupted, and eventually, as natural resources are depleted, the conflict will either enter a decisive phase with the use of weapons of mass destruction, or will gradually fade away simply due to a lack of the most necessary to continue the war.
The second development option is a gradual decrease in the influence of countries on each other and relatively peaceful coexistence. This can either be the beginning of a long peaceful era or lead to the closure of borders and the complete severing of all contacts with neighbors. Almost unrealistic optionwhich in the realities of the modern world is even difficult to imagine.
The last option, which the formation of the current bipolar system of relations can lead to, is the formation of a single state after the defeat of one of the conflicting superpowers. In the most incredible case, the opponents can agree, and jointly, having influenced other states, form a government common to all, within which countries will exist more like some kind of corporation. There are many other versions of what all this could lead to, but they are either too fantastic or require some very global upheavals that are now difficult to predict. Examples include contact with an alien race, diseases that destroy more than half of the world, a global nuclear war, the discovery of new energy sources, and so on.
Interesting facts
The speed of development of civilization after the formation of the monopolar world has slowed down significantly. Numerous theoretical studies were curtailed, which did not provide benefits in the near future, the space program was practically closed, the growth of industry stopped and grandiose construction projects disappeared.
Humanity tends to constantly look for the enemy. If it doesn't really exist, it needs to be created. This is the basis of the bipolar system of international relations. It's not good, but it's not bad either. Just such a fact forces our race to develop not in the most efficient way. The problem would be solved by a common enemy for the whole species,like the same "evil aliens", but so far there are no such in the near future, as well as other potential contenders for a similar role. So, humanity can only look for enemies in its ranks, preferably among other countries.
An important role in the monopolar and bipolar systems is played by the presence of nuclear weapons in a fairly large number of countries. The very fact of mutual destruction makes even the hottest heads think and try to find a way out of the crisis by other, non-military methods. If this factor disappears for some reason, another global military conflict and redistribution of spheres of influence is very likely, similar to that which occurred in the First and Second World Wars, although it is believed that such remnants of the past are impossible in the modern world.
Conclusion
Both a monopolar and a bipolar system are not the final stage in the development of relations between countries, but it is precisely the two poles of power that can give the necessary impetus, because within the framework of the confrontation there is a need to do more and better than the opponent, which gives a serious impetus to science, economy, industry and other areas of activity. The main thing is that the conflict should remain in a passive phase, since hostilities between superpowers can most likely lead to the complete destruction of humanity.
