A Round Table Discussion Based on the Article by Andrei Yakovlev 'Where is Global Capitalism Heading?'

Abstract

On February 17th, 2022, the journal 'Mir Rossii' organized a round table discussion based on Yakovlev’s article 'Where is Global Capitalism Heading?' It was motivated by two circumstances. The first, an exclusively formal one, was the extraordinary amount of attention it attracted among the readership (as judged by the download statistics). The second was a more legitimate one and had to do with the thought-provoking ideas and questions the article raised which could not but spark a heated discussion. The round table took place one week before the start of the special military operation in Ukraine. The discussion, however, revealed explicitly that the research community anticipated the coming global crisis, its scale, and its manifestations in the economic, social, and political dimensions. The timing of this round table meant that the emotional assessment of the situation did not prevail over the analytical one. Still, the heat of the discussion, the straightforwardness and, at times, the rigidity of many arguments related to the foreseeable development of capitalism made it clear that a crisis scenario with global consequences was highly likely. The round table has become a part of the intellectual record of our age and an intellectual
provocation, involving new scientists into the discussion of where capitalism is heading and whether “the end of history” is indeed possible.