Comparative Analysis of the Concept of Multipolarity in the Political and Scientific Discourses of Russia and China

One of the possible scenarios for resolving the turbulence in world politics that is being observed is a switch to a multipolar world order. Russia and China are major powers that have stated in the public affairs that a multipolar world order is a real option to a unipolar one. The article is exploring the concept of multipolarity in the political and scientific discourses of Russia and China, using the method of comparative analysis to identify how strategically the vision of a multipolar world in Russia and China coincides in official and scientific discourses. The novelty of the research lies in the study of the coincidence or divergence in the approach to understanding the concert of multipolarity in China and Russia. The results of the study demonstrate that the official discourses of the two countries differ at the level of rhetoric of previous generations of leaders. But both approaches to multipolarity converge under the current leadership. In Russian scientific discourse there is variability in interpretations of the term, while in China the theoretical understanding of multipolarity proposed at the official level is supported. In general, a comparative analysis of the concept of multipolarity in the official discourse and scientific understanding of Russia and China confirms that the strategic understanding of the approach of building a multipolar world in the China and Russia coincides.