Russia and the west: conflict of interests or a new cold war?

The article analyses the relations of Russia with the countries of the West in the transitional period from the Cold War to contemporary world. The author stresses that the transitional period has dragged on due to several reasons. Global chaos has come as a substitute to a relative stability in the Cold War period, and it represents a real threat to universal security. Nobody will say when it has begun, and equally nobody knows when this chaos will end. Here and there the rules of international law are being broken. The establishment of a new world order after disintegration of the Yalta-Potsdam system of international relations seems to be dragged out. The relations of Russia with the countries of the West have also gone through a complex evolution and become sharper last time. A proof of this is the Ukrainian crisis which is used by the USA to make Russia weaker. For Russia the struggle for Ukraine means defending its sovereignty. And yet the relations of Russia with the West can hardly be characterized as “a second edition” of the Cold War. It is more likely a sharpening of the conflict of interests on the background of instability of contemporary world. A constructive dialogue and full-weight cooperation of Russia and the West seem to be necessary in the struggle with common threats, international terrorism first and foremost. The relations of Russia with NATO have also been experienced a complex evolution - from fragile partnership to containment of Russia by the Alliance. The enlargement of NATO to the East was considered by the Russian Federation highly oversensitively, as a threat to its security, so as there in NATO the process of expansion has been and still is regarded as a natural one, derivative from the open door policy of the Alliance. And still the existing contradictions should not serve as an insuperable obstacle to full-weight cooperation.