Abstract: The article is dedicated to the study of NATO's eastward expansion. The author analyzes the history of the issue, stressing the legal obligations taken up by NATO, which have been violated over the course of several waves of expansion of the Alliance in the late 1990s and 2000s. The author argues that, despite the official statements, the policy of expansion is directed against the interests of Russia, and that NATO-centrism is a systemic defect in the European security system. The author emphasizes that full and effective cooperation between the parties can be resumed only on the basis of equality and within the framework of international law on the basis of legally binding intergovernmental agreements. The methodological basis of the study includes the systemic, structural-functional, comparative-historical, comparative-political, geo-political, cultural and civilizational approaches, methods of analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, modeling, observation. Cooperating on extensive list of security issues, NATO and Russia will inevitably have to face the sharper corners concerning national security of Russia. Among those issues is NATO'sexpansion, as well as the problem of adapting the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, the problem of US missile defense system placement in Europe, and the status of various territories (Kosovo, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Crimea). In this article the author considers the problem of NATO expansion.

Keywords: interests, democracy, color revolutions, hybrid war, state, USA, society, politics, NATO, security

Abstract: The article is dedicated to analyzing the changes in international economic relations which occurred as a result of establishing the BRICS development bank, founded by the resolution of 2014 BRICS summit. The official goals of this international organization include the development of financial and economic cooperation between countries, stabilization of post-shock economies, overcoming financial crises, financial aid and recovery of developing economies. From this point of view, the BRICS development bank will play a unique role in the formation of a new financial system, and the U.S. dollar won’t be the world’s only reserve currency. The subject of this research is the role of the BRICS development bank in stabilizing the world’s financial system. The methodology of this research is a systemic, structural-functional and comparative approaches, the methods of financial-economic analysis, synthesis, modeling, observation, expert assessments. The exacerbation of Ukrainian domestic crisis lead to growing economic pressure on Russia. There are no objective economy-based reasons for this: Russia has a reputation of a reliable economic partner. The testament of this is the creation of the BRICS development bank in 2014. This article presents an analysis of the potential of all BRICS countries on the international economical, financial and political arena. The authors draw historic parallels of cooperation between Russia and international financial organizations.

Keywords: conflict studies, foreign policies, Russia, BRICS, diplomacy, economic policy of Russia, BRICS development bank, international financial organizations, Ukrainian crisis, finance.