eral, military-first solutions of the key issues of world politics and circumventing the basic norms of international law.

Russian scholars (Dakhin, 2001) argue that the latter trend prevails, and that economic globalization has become an instrument in the construction of such a unipolar model of world order, in which sovereignty is limited. This political model has thus far failed to encompass the whole world. Domination of financial markets and recurrent financial crises may compromise the neoliberal approach promoted by national governments and international financial institutions such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund, and The World Bank, and the world economy may turn to greater use of state regulation (Kargalitsky, 2001).

Russian experts (Fedotova, 2001) claim that after the dissolution of the USSR, countries leading the globalization process became indifferent to the social quality of non-Western societies unless it threatened relevant interests. The goals of integration into the global economy were separated from the goals of internal development.

The negative impact of the current pattern of globalization is becoming more pronounced in a number of countries, including developed ones (Bezruchka, 2000), as a result of environmental decline; marginalization of specific regions and social groups, such as youth, the aged, and employees of declining branches of the economy; and liberalization of social policy. In response to the unipolar political model, antiglobalist sentiment takes the form of social clashes, extremism, and terrorism (Dakhin, 2001). Inequalities in development are generating tension in international relations.

One of the features of transnational social organization is the freedom of movement of individuals beyond national borders. Thus issues of health and social security become international and necessitate the development of transnational and global health policy and governance (Kickbusch and Buse, 2001; Kickbusch and de Leeuw, 1999; Lee, 1999). Public health challenges become a basic element in the stability of international political systems. This is important from the point of view of the prevention and control of infectious disease (IOM, 1997).

Many of the critical issues related to global health⁵ and increasing global interdependence are represented in post-Soviet Russia, and globalization can provide keys to some solutions. It is a positive movement to-