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Back to the future:
postcolonial “worlds” in the competition between centers of power

Semenenko I.S.,

Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO), Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia, semenenko@imemo.ru

elibrary_id: 251670 | ORCID: 0000-0003-2529-9283 |

Article received: 2026.05.25 19:49. Accepted: 2026.07.02 19:49


DOI: 10.17976/jpps/2026.05.10
EDN: KTIQMD

Rubric: Orbis terrarum

For citation:

Semenenko I.S. Back to the future: postcolonial “worlds” in the competition between centers of power. – Polis. Political Studies. 2026. No. 5. https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2026.05.10. EDN: KTIQMD (In Russ.)

This article was prepared with the support of a grant from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation for major scientific projects in priority areas of scientific and technological development No. 075-15-2024-551 “Global and regional centers ofpower in the emerging world order”.

Abstract

The article focuses on the organization of postcolonial “worlds” seen as objects of competition between global and regional centers of power in a transforming world order. Francophonie, Ibero- America, and Lusophonie - heirs to continental Europe’s colonial empires - have developed institutional frameworks affecting their competitive positions, as have discourses concerning their imperial and colonial past. This influence is evaluated with regard both to the identity-based approach (what identities emerge in these communications) and to the spatial approach (how political spaces are constructed in the process and what they are based on), and cross-cultural and cross-temporal comparative methods are applied for this purpose. Grounds for the consolidation and fragmentation of the postcolonial “worlds” and their structures, as well as prospects for the formation of common ground for shared identities as a consolidating factor are considered and evaluated. Based on the results of the study, conclusions are drawn about the potential of intangible resources for Russia’s assertion as a global center of power.

Keywords

world order, centers of power, postcolonial “worlds”, legacy of empire, identity politics, language, Francophonie, Ibero-America, Lusophonie, decolonization, post-colonial discourse, intercivilizational spaces.

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