Abstract. The author does not intend to examine the question of the conflict situation genesis initiators, to go far back in its history and prehistory. There is enough written about it. More important is to address the fundamental nature of the collision taken place, because its significance and consequences are much more serious than the war between the two countries limited by time and space. The meaning of the Russian-Georgian war lies mainly in the fact that it turned up both a result and the most vivid performance of the crisis in the American-centric world order structure and principles which were established after the fall of the USSR.