international security

The article examines some aspects of the problems of reforming the United Nations, which is the largest international organization in the world, established after the end of World War II to maintain peace, develop friendly relations and intergovernmental cooperation among member states. The study focuses on the activities of the UN Security Council, which is one of the key organs of the international organization, as it performs the main function of the UN - ensuring international security.

      In the article, the author analyzes how the understanding of the concept of neutrality of European states and its implementation in their foreign policy strategies changes at the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st centuries, along with the change in the international system of relations.  The interesting case of a truly neutral country is Switzerland, whose foreign policy behavior is a challenge to the negative expectations of observers regarding the pessimistic prospects of neutrality as an option for the implementation of the foreign policy course.

The article analyzes indicators of certain constituents of geopolitical and socio-economic dimensions of the EU’s security potential in comparison with similar indicators of potentials of other powerful international actors. The analysis is accomplished in the context of the problems and prospects of further development of this integration union and its reaction to the newest threats to international and European security.