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capitalism. 8 It’s usually understood as system based on a market economy, democratic governance,primate of private property, rule of law, human rights, division of powers, civil society, etc. From thehistorical standpoint it’s still very young and as it is today it was formed sometimes after the worldeconomic crisis of 1929. It leads development on the planet at least since 19-th century. Still for all itsobvious merits and success it largely remains the European regional project, which involves 24-30 fullydeveloped capitalist societies. All these states except Japan may be attributed to the Europeancivilization. Close to these countries stand South Korea, Taiwan in Asia, as well as countries of theformer Soviet block in Europe (including Baltic countries).As to the other parts of the world – Latin America thanks to long-standing (although lessappreciated) persistent efforts of the US is firmly following the route of transformation into full fledgedcapitalist societies although rather hesitantly at times and with various success. Sub-Saharan Africa isstill in process of sorting out numerous problems which emerged after withdrawing colonial powerscreated plenty of hardly viable states. It may still take decades to reach some kind of stability here inorder to speak definitely about the course of development these countries may actually follow. 9The rest of the world, starting from the Muslim states of Northern Africa and Byelorussia-Russia inthe Eastern Europe, plus whole Asia (except countries mentioned above) lives inside the social systemsharply different from the capitalist society. 10 Representatives of the modern social sciences arehesitant to recognize its existence to the extent that this system mostly goes unnamed, if is mentionedat all. Still it was well known and recognized back in the Ancient Europe and led the world developmentbefore emergence of capitalist society in Europe. The same Marx for instance mentioned it as “theAsian mode of production”. In the second half of 20-th century it for quite vague reasons (probablyideological) became known as communist, although has nothing to do with this highly fictitious system.It looks like that such system was the initial one within the framework of which first stable statesystems evolved in the process of disintegration of primitive communal systems. It’s based on thesymbiosis of power and property, the state mode of production. 11 It invariably evolved everywherewhere centralization of resources (human resources first of all) in a course of implementation of largescaleeconomic or political projects led to huge social gains. This task was supplemented by defensefunction, especially when pastoral civilizations were endangered by nomads. At least at the initial stageof development the prime function of such state was [physical] survival of society in face natural andmilitary threats. Unlike the capitalism, such social system was universal and evolved independentlyacross civilizations throughout the world, in regions isolated form each-other (including for instance pre-Columbus Central and South America), but where roughly similar conditions led to the same solutions.The latest additions to the system were Islamic states and much later – Russian [Muscovite] state. 12The fully developed, mature systems of this kind (China or Russia for instance) share the followingsimilar characteristics –• The state based on this system is extremely centralized and strives for total control of material,information and energy flows existing inside it. Its social structures are rigid to the maximum andare virtually unable to evolve. As a result such society is hardly resilient and has difficulties ofadapting to changing environmental conditions. Hard external pressure usually leads to demise ofthis society, but as soon as this pressure is removed or weakens it rebuilds itself virtually to thesame state, as it was before.• State evolving inside such system is based on the static equilibrium, whereas capitalist societymaintains a dynamic equilibrium, based on a change, development. Thus pyramidal society shieschanges, which are harmful for it. Such changes include not only large scale social or economictransformations, but the most commonplace technological innovations too.• The system is based on the direct, address management meaning that majority of decisions aremade in the single centre. Thus on the country level the chains of command are usually very long.In relatively large and complex systems this usually leads to mismanagement and chaos.• The system eventually starts to experience shortage of goods and services and can not satisfythe most basic needs of population. As a result it has to allow some kind of relatively freeproduction and exchange of goods and services (all the way up to development of some kind of aproto-market). When sooner or later this process starts to undermine the centralized governance8 Although this term is more often used in its more restricted meaning of economic system as sub-system of a largersocial system.9 There are of course exceptions, but such are few.10 It looks like that Ukraine, Georgia; Armenia under the proper guidance may be successfully transformed into capitalistsocieties. Turkey also largely remains outside the main Asian context.11 It is also sometimes referred to as pyramidal society, after its organizational structure.12 Western Europe being factually the rather isolated peninsula did not possess conditions (both natural and political) thatfavoured centralization.126