Third World: half century later. It took about half a century when problematic of the so-called developing countries and development studies, as well as relations between the Center and the Periphery i.e. the North (the West) and the South (the East) in the foreign and domestic literature appeared. Since then, the configuration of the world order has changed significantly, and the changes are caused primarily by globalization. The authors, scholars of IMEMO RAS aimed at the identification of the main trends of these changes in the economic, political and cultural spheres, and also in international relations. Besides, adjustments were made to the interpretation of such notions as "third world", "developing countries", "catch-up development" and others. These concepts developed decades ago have continued to be used by inertia. The study of these problems is important to understand the role and place of Russia in the context of center- periphery relations.