World order, imperialism and the “theory of the fourth world”. Part one
- DOI
- 10.5922/vestnikhum-2026-1-7
- Pages
- 92-104
Abstract
The article constitutes the first part of a broader study devoted to the analysis of Fourth World theory and the evolution of the contemporary world order. This first part presents the results of a brief analysis of the differences and specific features in the scholarly use of the terms “world order,” “international order,” and “international relations.” The methodological framework combines elements of historical and political analysis, a comparative typological approach, and an interpretation of nation-building processes under conditions of imperial transformation. The article offers a general explanation of the current role and possible future of the foundation of contemporary “international relations”—the phenomenon of the nation-state. The author argues that the idea of the existence of “nations” (and “nation-states”) is unstable and, on this basis, proposes one possible (though undesirable) scenario for the development of human societies in the event of the collapse of this idea. The study examines the phenomenon of a specific historical type of world order that emerged at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Its aim is to conceptualize this order as an independent model of world organization. The article demonstrates that this order was characterized by the concentration of power in a limited number of nation-states (world powers) that exercised control over multiethnic societies and pursued policies of cultural and political unification. It establishes that such a configuration contributed to the formation of an asymmetrical system of subordination among peoples and to the legitimation of a hierarchical structure of international relations. Analysis of this historical stage makes it possible to identify the origins of subsequent models of world order.