The essence of sustainable development is that the progress of the current generation does not go against the interests of future generations. In the classical definition, the balance between generations is understood as the balance of needs. However, the word “needs” can be interpreted differently. First, we can talk about the ability to meet the needs in the context of the availability of natural resources. This means that we must leave to future generations the same amount of resources that we have, so that they can meet their needs with these resources. Secondly, we can talk about the ability to meet the needs as a standard of living. This means that for future generations it should be at least the same as the standard of living of our generation. At the same time, it is absolutely not necessary that this be achieved due to the availability of natural resources. For example, we can now invest some resources in the development of human capital and knowledge, and future generations will provide a higher standard of living through the growth of knowledge. Consequently, the factor of human capital, determining the pace of introduction of innovative technologies and moving away from resource-intensive industries, will determine sustainable development in the process of transition to a post-industrial economy.

The whole world, including Russia, is on the verge of a third, after the agrarian and industrial, the digital technological revolution, no less, and perhaps more fundamental, than the two previous ones. A sustainable development strategy cannot be created on the basis of traditional universal human notions and values, stereotypes of thinking. It requires the development of new scientific and ideological approaches that correspond not only to modern realities, but also to the expected development prospects in the 3rd millennium. The transition to sustainable development involves the gradual restoration of natural ecosystems to a level that ensures the sustainability of the environment, and in which there is a real possibility for future generations of people to live up to their vital needs and interests. The formulation of a new development strategy means a structural changes during gradual integration into a single self-organizing system of economic, environmental and social spheres of activity. In this sense, sustainable development implies, at a minimum, structural efficiency and compatibility of the biosphere and the new digital world, social justice with a general decrease in anthropogenic pressure on the biosphere. However, the transition to sustainable development is the only alternative to the development of mankind, since the economics of technologically advanced countries are already forming the foundations of new structural changes that radically change the place of nature-intensive industries in meeting human needs.

Растущая роль современного государства, как реакция на глобальные вызовы рассматривается учеными-трансформистами как феномен, сочетающий в себе тенденции глобализации и локализации. Под влиянием процесса локализации, экономическая политика страны направлена на отстаивание собственных интересов и поиском новых рынков сбыта. Проведенный анализ структуры импорта 133 стран мира, в которых проживает более 97% населения Земли, за 2000-2018 гг. позволил выявить потенциальных лидеров и их зоны влияния, ими оказались страны БРИКС, а также США и ЕС во главе с Германией. На территориях влияния данных лидеров, в долгосрочной перспективе, должны сформироваться локальные экономические зоны (ЛЭЗ), внутри которых будет доминировать базовая региональная валюта. Дано авторское определение ЛЭЗ и предложены критерии для их формирования.