The end of the First World War: the formation of global intergovernmental structures and global political trends

Abstract

This article is devoted to the analysis of what political trends, structures and ideas laid down by the results of World War I are reflected in the practice of current world politics. It is shown that at the end of World War I not only the field called “international relations”, with its two classical theories — realism and liberalism—was formed, but also the political organization of the world was significantly changed. Firstly, as a result of the war, the first ever system of international (interstate) relations was formed, Versailles-Washington, which went beyond the limits of the European continent. Secondly, the first universal international organization was created — the League of Nations. All this served as a strong impetus for the implementation of global political ideas and the formation of global governance structures, and later it was developed in the processes of political globalization and the liberal world order, understood as openness, rationality and adherence to common legal norms and standards. At the same time, the article shows that both globalization and the liberal world order are not identical with Westernization or Americanization. Thirdly, as a result of the creation of a socialist state, the Westphalian model of the world was challenged, not only in theoretical terms, but in practical terms. In other words, an attempt was made to build an alternative to the Westphalian model.