The concept of democracy in U.S. foreign policy in a post-bipolar system

Introduction. Democracy nowadays means not only specific parameters of domestic political, social and economic development, but has also become a tool for identifying “friends” and “strangers” for the USA and a number of other states of the so-called Western world. In addition, international law, calling the problem of human rights the most important one for the democratization of the world, denotes the possibility of interference of the states concerned in the internal affairs of other countries. Methods and materials. The study was conducted in accordance with the epistemological orientations of social constructivism using the case-study method. Analysis. The logic of analysis assumes considering a concept of democracy from the position of the theory of the democratic world with its verification on USA political practice including their participation in contemporarylocal and regional conflicts. Results. Thus, democracy becomes a complex tool that allows the USA to solve several problems at once: to divide between states, to influence the domestic politics of other states, to change its position in the international arena, to spread its values, to conceal its foreign policy goals bydressing them up in “democratic” clothes. The U.S., considering itself a model democratic state, identifying other countries as its allies or enemies, at the same time gives them the status of “democratic” or “non-democratic”, or, if necessary, avoiding such a designation (in the case of Saudi Arabia).