The world bids farewell to Utopias: time to reconsider development theories

Abstract

By the end of XX century the constructed complex of economic theories was used as an implicit background under the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2015. In fact, the actual path of global development has moved along its own path. Collective efforts of economic policies to pull this path onto an attractive trajectory of well-being and sustainability were not very successful. Global governance crisis and evolving geopolitical conflicts had completed disillusionment. It is time to recognize the SDG idea as a quite positive by intentions but utopia. Actual condition and character of development have been undergoing different crises but pessimism should not drive us to a widespread hopelessness. Mankind – it appears – will not reach in this century either interstate or social equality, or stable climate with +1,5 C, or wellbeing for expected ten billion inhabitants of our planet. None of radical objectives of any social theories – pretending to dominate our thinking – will be achieved. And the very dream of utopia should be considered as a utopia. It is reasonable to recognize the fact that we do not fully realize global socio-economic forces. To create future realistic program of a global development it would be reasonable to initiate the program which we call “Critical analysis of the theoretical background of SDG”. As the decade of global governance destruction has demonstrated, no success can be expected without coordination of countries in the accepted logistic. The findings demonstrate the need for elaborating applied economic theories oriented towards a coordinated global survival.