The author considers the global changes to be an intrinsic part of the continuing formation of a new international political system, which is replacing the classical bipolarity; thereby, he opposes the approaches that describe the global changes as a process of destruction of the previous world order and the entry into an unstable era of the universal collapse of the “game by the rules”. The author pays particular attention to an in-depth analysis of the current configuration of the international system, as well as to various scenarios of its development, such as: the revival of the unipolar world order or some kind of “new bipolarity”; slipping down to chaos; recreation of the “concert of nations” or multipolarity as a fundamentally new global configuration of power. The article analyzes the dynamics of the global centers of development, the corresponding downward and upward trends, the transformation of geopolitical space, and formation of the new actors of the global politics. Upon studying the structural shifts in the transforming inner hierarchy of the international system (including the expansion of the pool of countries aspiring to the core of the world international political system), the author concludes that a new configuration and a new balance of power are taking their shape on the global and the regional level. The author sees the global balance of this emerging new global hierarchy, in the context of virtually inevitable new global cleavages, as one of the key challenges facing the world community. In this framework, crucial role is played by the existing and newly built mechanisms and formats of the global regulation. In conclusion, the author discusses the most acute problems of international political development, namely provision of the global security, the nuclear nonproliferation regime, the mechanisms for containing transboundary use of force, the country status of territories, as well as sets forth the task and criteria for achieving a mature world order.