Geography of the world economy at Moscow University: stages of formation and prospects for development

Many experts correlate the growing tension in international relations and the aggravation of almost all global problems with the approach of the era of the next ‟world economic transition”. This actualizes the interdisciplinary studying of trends in the development of the global economy and identifying the ways to reduce risks and threats to the global development. The paper analyzes the formation of a youngest branch of the Russian human geography in the Moscow University, i.e. the geography of world economy. Its methodological foundation was laid by professors N.V. Alisov and N.S. Mironenko; and its recent developments are useful in understanding new global challenges and their impact on the intensity and nature of changes in the sectoral and spatial structure of the world economy. The paper, firstly, reasons the changes in the world system from the standpoint of the concept of ‟hard” power and the stages of the approaching world economic transition; se condly, introduces and explains by several examples the concept of ‟economic geographical transition”; thirdly, proves the diversification and complexity of the world industry markets with a certain territorial shift in favor of the global South. Fourth, a phenomenon of increasingly tangible impact of TNCs on the overall architecture and territorial organization of the world economy is suggested to become an object of a new scientific problem area, i.e. corporate geography; fifth, the special role of China in changing the balance of power between the center and the periphery of world economy and the high probability of the emergence of a Chinacentered system of the world order is reasoned.

Based on the synthesis of materials from reputable international organizations and a package of documents for the Strategy of Scientific and Technological Development of Russia until 2035, seven priority areas of research in the field of the geography of world economy are formulated for the near future, with the geography of ‟world economic transition” becoming a key one. We suppose that the geography of world economy could contribute a lot to the implementation of strategic projects and the progress of three emerging Interdisciplinary scientific and educational schools of the Moscow University, namely ‟Mathematical Methods for Analyzing Complex Systems”, ‟Preserving the World Cultural and Historical Heritage” and ‟The Future of the Planet and Global Environmental Changes”. 

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