In the article, Gerard Delanty’s sociology is analyzed in the context of the development of contemporary social theory and historical sociology. Delanty considers European history in the context of inter-civilizational encounters with the legacies of Antiquity and several religious traditions. He discusses the rise of the European nation-states and, at the same time, the growth of cosmopolitan traits which became more conspicuous by the end of the 19th century. He analyzes the “short 20th century” from the viewpoint of a clash of competing projects of modernity. The situation since 1989 is defined by Delanty as a new stage of European history characterized by the strengthening of the post-national dimension of modernity. At the same time, he considers the trends of crises in the European project. These trends represent the contradictions of modernity, particularly between capitalism and democracy. Delanty also demonstrates the possibility of the application of his theoretical approach to other world regions such as Latin America, where different versions of modernity have been formed. The authors believe that Delanty’s theory is relevant for comparative-historical studies of social processes in Russian society.