This article focuses on global processes that took shape in the last quarter of the twentieth century. The logic of their continuation has decisively affected the megatrends of modern world politics and the role of Russia in the newly emerging  international  system.  The  demise  of  the  Soviet  Union  and  the  collapse  of  the  bipolar  world  order  only  suspended  the  natural  evolution  of  the  global system.  “Truncated”  globalisation  resulted  in  a  “reactive”  accumulation of contradictions between the “supercivilisation” and the rest of humanity as well as within the societies that “won” the Cold War. The growth of  radical  anti-Western  groups  like  the  Islamic  State,  the  strengthening  of  new international “influentials” and the gradual revival of Russia as a world power  have  all  disproved  the “end  of  history”  thesis.  Today,  the  existential  problem faced by the world is the search for a new global consensus, with a collective security system covering all of humanity at its core.