The paper analyzes the modern role and importance of institutions for the development of national human capital as instruments of the power policy of states. The emphasis is on the study of the importance of NGOs and other non-state actors in world politics.

Washington now faces increasing competition from potential adversaries in the strategic domains of land and sea, air and space, as well as cyber networks. The Pentagon is intensifying work to update its National Defense Strategy, which should define the key tasks the U.S. armed forces are facing, the principles of military construction and planning in the military sphere.

The article has analyzed the situation in the party system of Germany following the elections to the Bundestag that took place on September 26, 2021. The study gives evidence that the real renaissance of the German social democracy has not yet taken place and conservatism is in a systematic crisis. Time will tell if a government coalition will be formed with the SPD, the “Greens”, and the FDP (“Traffic light”), the first in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany.

The article presents aspects of the formation of the political status of Iraqi Kurdistan in the XX–XXI centuries. Attention is focused on the characteristics of the evolutionary stages of this process during the Gulf War, the civil war in Kurdistan and after the US invasion of Iraq. Conclusions and prospects for resolving such precedents in the modern system of international relations are formulated.

The article considers the development of Mexican-American relations in the beginning of XXI century. First of all, attention was paid to three main problems of bilateral relations – NAFTA, illegal migration and illegal drug trafficking. Basing on the analysis of Spanish-language sources, the author shows the change in the positions of Mexican presidents on these issues, depending on the emphasis placed either on security or on economic issues. One of the factors that had a destructive impact on this process was the policy of US President D.Trump. It is concluded that despite the asymmetry of bilateral relations, with the coming to power in Mexico of President L.Obrador and in the United States of President J.Biden has positive prospects for resolving differences.

The article discusses the main reasons for the perestroika reforms carried out under the leadership of Mikhail Gorbachev, as well as their stages. It is emphasized that his initial initiatives related to the acceleration of socio-economic development and the renewal of socialist society were met with enthusiasm in the society. However, since 1987, poorly thought out, hasty experiments were initiated not only in the economics, but also in the political and ideological spheres, which led to an imbalance in the mechanism of management of society with the increase of crisis phenomena.

The article is devoted to the assault brigade «Voevode Vuk», which was the first attempt of the Serbian Krajina army to create a compound not tied to a specific area, staffed with the most combat-ready personnel and equipped with modern weapons. The authors of the article analyze the composition of the brigade, its tasks and the process of its formation. The main reasons why the brigade was not created are indicated.