R. V. ARZUMANIAN, "CENTERS OF POWER IN THE 21ST CENTURY: POLITICAL THEOLOGY AND SOVEREIGNTY ON THE THRESHOLD OF A NEW ERA"

R. V. Arzumanian’s book, Centers of Power in the 21st Century: Political Theology and Sovereignty on the Threshold of a New Era, is a profound investigation into the transformation of core political and strategic concepts amidst the contemporary global crisis. The author analyzes how classical notions of statehood, shaped within the Westphalian system, adapt or collapse under the weight of 21st-century challenges.

Below is a detailed overview of the book's primary ideas and structure.

1. Theoretical Foundations of Political Theology
   The central thesis of the work builds upon Carl Schmitt’s famous assertion: "All significant concepts of the modern theory of the state are secularized theological concepts." Arzumanian traces the lineage of political theology from Antiquity (Plato, Varro) to the sharp 20th-century debates between Schmitt and Erik Peterson.
   The author distinguishes three primary dimensions of political theology:
   • The Juridical: The justification of the legitimacy of power and concepts of law.
   • The Historical: An analysis of how theological structures migrated into the political sphere.
   • The Appellative (Ideological): The instrumentalization of religious meanings to mobilize populations and justify political actions.

2. Sovereignty and the "State of Exception"
   The concept of sovereignty receives particular attention in the book. Drawing on Schmitt, the author defines the sovereign as the one who decides on the exception (the state of emergency). In the 21st century, this concept undergoes significant mutations:
   • The Normalization of the Exception: Emergency measures become a permanent tool of governance, blurring the line between law and violence.
   • Biopolitics: Modern technologies of power target not merely citizens, but the regulation of man's "bare life" (evoking Giorgio Agamben’s concept of homo sacer).
   • Theological Roots: Sovereign power was historically modeled on divine omnipotence, a dynamic reflected in Ernst Kantorowicz’s concept of "The King's Two Bodies."

3. The Historical Path: From the Middle Ages to Modernity
   The book analyzes the evolution of church-state relations, illustrating how modern hierarchies of power were constructed:
   • The Clash of the "Two Swords": Conflicts between the Papacy and the Empire laid the groundwork for Western political thought.
   • The Reformation: Martin Luther and his doctrine of the "Two Kingdoms" catalyzed the secularization of authority and tightened state control.
   • De-Christianization and "Re-Paganization": The author notes that the contemporary world is undergoing a process of "re-paganization," where traditional religion is supplanted by new forms of political cults and ideologies.

4. Strategic Modeling: The "Complexity Shuttle"
   One of the book's most original contributions is its methodology for analyzing contemporary conflicts through the lens of complexity theory. Arzumanian introduces the concept of the "complexity shuttle" and proposes a three-dimensional model (a "cube"), where the positioning of centers of power is evaluated along three axes:
   • Linearity — Non-linearity: Predictability versus chaos and adaptability.
   • Regularity — Irregularity: Classical warfare versus hybrid and terrorist threats.
   • Secularity — Religiosity: The return of the religious factor to grand politics.
   This model allows for the classification of various types of state and non-state actors and helps determine the most effective strategies under conditions of uncertainty and the "fog of war."

5. 21st-Century Challenges and the New World Order
   In the final chapters, the author examines the current state of the global system, highlighting:
   • The Crisis of Liberal Universalism: The transition to a multipolar world necessitates a search for new foundations of legitimacy.
   • Radical Political Theology: The emergence of new movements that utilize postmodern approaches to deconstruct traditional political institutions.
   • The Role of Private Structures: The rising influence of private military companies and transnational corporations ("modern mercenaries"), which directly challenges the state’s monopoly on the legitimate use of violence.

Conclusion Arzumanian’s book represents an attempt to comprehend political reality not through surface-level events, but through the deep-seated theological and philosophical structures that continue to dictate the behavior of states and peoples, even in a high-tech era. The author calls for a "rectification of names" and a rigorous analysis of meanings, without which building a stable world order on the threshold of this new epoch remains impossible.