Comparative law in a multipolar world

Background. Comparative law has served as a reliable reference point for disclosing legal reality in the last two centuries. However, the entry of our Planet into the stages of postmodernization and globalization forces us to take a fresh look at the subject field of this most important discipline, and the advancement of humanity towards a multipolar world encourages the creation of new forms of scientific international cooperation. Materials and methods. The article attempts to show the vector of internationalization of comparative research based on a wide array of Russian and foreign works. Comparative-diachronic and comparative-synchronous analysis are used to demonstrate the successes and features of the development of Comparative Law in different countries and in different historical eras. The presentation of the material is accompanied by the publication of original schemes. Results. The authors note that the formation of Comparative Law falls on the first third of the 19th century, naturally coinciding with the start of modernization in the most advanced countries of the world. It is also no coincidence that Germany became a pioneer in the dissemination of the new science as a country that objectively most needed to study foreign legal experience at that time. It is stated that from the second half of the 19th century the infrastructure of the new discipline appeared in the form of scientific societies and numerous journals, and from the beginning of the 20th century efforts were made to purposefully internationalize scientific research: international congresses were held in Paris (1900), St. Louis (1904), the International Academy of Comparative Law (IACL) was organized in 1924. The second half of the 20th century witnessed the first international projects and regular international events. Conclusions. The era of postmodernization and globalization could not but stimulate the expansion of the subject field of Comparative Law and the addition of its tools through comparative state and comparative political science analysis. After all, the study of foreign legislative experience should be accompanied by research into the possibilities and feasibility of its application in the context of specific state and political systems. The formation of a multipolar world also requires a more realistic approach to legal geography, within which the division into Western and non-Western law is clearly visible, and Russia should be considered as a completely independent entity that does not belong to the Romano-Germanic legal family. Finally, for the optimal study of this same multipolar world, it is necessary to create regional-continental research structures - for example, the Eurasian Association of Comparative Law.