Central Asia is the territory connecting Europe, Near East, South and East Asia. This is a bridge between East and West, the cross-road of civilizations, one of the key geopolitical regions that has acquired special importance after breakup of the Soviet Union. However, this is also the unstable region, a tough player threatening world peace. Central Asia locates in complicated natural and climatic conditions where the key and vital natural resource is water which requires, on the one hand, its saving and, on the other, the permanent search for possibilities to increase its reserves.
This is the region with the world’s highest rate of population growth — to 2.0 % per annum. At present the population of Central Asia without Afghanistan is 70.6 million and with Afghanistan 105.2 million.
The uneven distribution of water resources over the territory and their insufficiency, the constantly growing water consumption lead to the competitive demand for water at the national and regional levels. The water deficit and deterioration of water quality are the serious challenges which have been faced by many regional countries. The key issue determining the internal stability in the region was and still remains the water-energy balance.

The region historically referred to as Soviet Central Asia includes the 5 Central Asian Republics (CARs) of the Former Soviet Union (FSU): Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Their political status changed drastically when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and they became independent republics. Since the early 1990s, Central Asian leaders have referred on occasion to neighboring Afghanistan as the sixth CAR. In fact, it does occupy 14% of the Aral Sea Basin and its mountains supply about 15% of streamflow to the region’s mighty Amu Darya River that used to flow into Central Asia’s Aral Sea.

December 8, 2019 will be the 20-eth anniversary of signing of the Treaty of creation of the Union state by the presidents of Russia and Byelorussia. The phenomenon of the Union state (US) and the road passed by it are sufficiently contradictory. On the one hand, the US is undoubtedly the most advanced integration alignment on the post-Soviet area and a pattern for other associations. For the period of forming of the US considerable progress in all spheres of cooperation has been achieved. The mutual trade volume grew from $9,3 bln in 2000 to $35,6 bln in 2018. Investment cooperation and industrial cooperation are developing, joint programs are being realized. The documents aimed at securing of equal rights of the two countries’ citizens have been signed and are being realized; military and political as well as cooperation at the regional level is developing. On the other hand, many aims of the US have not been attained, its construction has actually been frozen. The integration process evidently slips, many conceptual issues of the union construction stay unsettled. Serious contradictions between the parties on a number of important economic and political issues remain; periodically serious conflicts (“oil”, “gas”, “milk” etc.) accompanied by “information wars” and questioning the prospects of the Russian-Byelorussian integration arise. Recently Russia raises a question of the necessity to accelerate integration in the framework of the US binding it with maintenance of preferences for Byelorussia in mutual economic relations. The action program of the two countries aimed at activization of integration cooperation in the US is being prepared. However, between the parties serious differences stipulated, first of all, by unwillingness of Byelorussia to waive its sovereignty still remain. Just in the near time it will be clear whether the parties will manage to overcome these differences and start a new stage in the development of integration.

This article is devoted to a comprehensive analysis of trade and economic relations between the Slovak Republic and Ukraine. Special attention is paid to the evolution, dynamics and current state of economic cooperation that takes place between these states, while taking into account cultural, historical, political, economic and geographical factors.
The author has identified key actors in the Slovak-Ukrainian trade and economic cooperation, whose activities have a direct impact on the level and quality of bilateral relations. Attention is also focused on the study of foreign trade between the two countries, within the framework of which the dynamics of mutual trade, exports, imports and their commodity structure are examined in detail. In addition, analyzes the inflow of direct investment of Slovakia and Ukraine, directed into the economy of each other. Prospective areas of mutually beneficial and pragmatic Slovak-Ukrainian cooperation were identified.
The overwhelming majority of the information database of the analysis consisted of official documents, materials and resources of the central state authorities of Slovakia and Ukraine, scientific works of Czech and Slovak scientists, as well as Internet sources.

Development of the complex monitoring and forecasting system of the Black Sea marine environment state based on remote sensing data and modern joint sea and atmosphere circulation models of with the assimilation of remote sensing data and in-situ measurements is a response to modern society needs. It will contribute to the prevention and timely response to crises caused by natural and technogenic risks. The created system will solve the problems of ensuring and enhancing national security, improving of the people life quality, and developing new high-tech sectors of the economy.

The policy of Bulgaria in the Black Sea region plays an important role for the future development of the country, as well as for the development of the region as a whole. The inability to develop a national strategy aggravates a number of problems in terms of the strategic use of the resources of the Black Sea, leads to enormous losses for the country. At the present time, Bulgaria is implementing a number of policies in the Black Sea region — such as energy, trade, traffic and security, protection of the surrounding environment, regional cooperation, etc. To effectively overcome the many problems in the Black Sea region, it is necessary first of all to take collective actions that will help overcome two obstacles: the EU’s interests in the Black Sea region and Bulgaria’s ability to defend its national interests, not adhering to the EU’s common policy.
At the moment, the European Union is intensifying its efforts to create an effective policy in order to enter the Black Sea region and become one of the main players. We should not forget the interests of other Great Powers like Russia and The United States.

After the collapse of the USSR, the West received favorable conditions for promoting its geopolitical interests. Accordingly, the European Union began to establish relations with the countries of Central Asia. The EU policy in Central Asia in the early 90s of the twentieth century is characterized by the fact that Brussels concentrated its efforts on the allocation of economic assistance, the promotion of democracy and market relations. The EU policy in the Central Asian republics was based on cooperation and partnership Agreements signed with the leadership of the countries of the region. These agreements were intended to formalize the political and economic relations of the countries of the region with the EU. The role of the Central Asian countries in EU foreign policy was more clearly defined after the adoption of the European Union Strategy for Central Asia in 2007. The European Union has taken a number of steps to strengthen its position in the region. Several formats of bilateral and regional cooperation have been created, and EU representative offices have been opened in the countries of the region.
Over the past decade, the European Union has significantly intensified its foreign policy in Central Asia. It expanded diplomatic ties and successfully implemented mechanisms for developing cooperation with Central Asia. In particular, it has expanded its presence in the region, successfully launching several of its strategic programs in various areas of cooperation.
In 2019, the European Union adopted a new Strategy for Central Asia. This is the first radical revision of the document adopted in 2007. This indicates a desire to update the base of interac tion and to build relations with the countries of the region in a new way. The European Union pays special attention to such areas of cooperation as energy issues, global security problems and joint struggle against the threats of terrorism, Islamic fundamentalism and radical extremism, transport and infrastructure. Particular attention is paid to the prospects and problems of the EU’s interaction with the Kyrgyz Republic, which cover various aspects: political, economic, social, trade, cultural. On 19 November 2017, the European Union and the Kyrgyz Republic began negotiations to update the existing bilateral agreement, which is intended to replace the partnership and cooperation Agreement. After the completion of the negotiations, a new agreement on expanded partnership and cooperation between Kyrgyzstan and the European Union was initialed on July 6, 2019. It includes new areas of cooperation and significantly improves the regulatory framework for trade and economic relations in accordance with WTO rules and regional economic agreements. The new agreement provides for cooperation between Kyrgyzstan and the EU in areas such as: policy and reform, enhanced cooperation in foreign policy and security issues, in the areas of justice, security and freedoms, as well as in trade.

The term «Black Swan», which is metaphorically used by the modern American scientist Nassim Nicholas Taleb in his theoretical research, means inexplicable randomness of events, their predictability and unpredictability for the expert, but the consequences of which are of great importance. In other words, these are important accidents that, according to N. Taleb, affect the result of the experiment and the course of history. In the Russian state there were many global events, each of which could be described as a «Black Swan». The article analyzes only two of them, which have occurred in modern history and have led to disastrous consequences for both Russia and the world, through the prism of the methodology of historical development and political discourse. The political and ideological platform of these events were the ideas of liberalism, the embodiment of which caused unforeseen, stochastic consequences, which became the object of this study. The author substantiates the conclusion that the intellectual part of the Russian society in the development of new concepts of political and state structure was guided by speculative theories and implemented mental schemes in the absence of real objective and subjective prerequisites, turning these processes into socio-political experiments. In the field of practical policy, according to the author, special attention should be paid to the factor of personal responsibility of actors in the development of political strategy and tactical decision-making.

A problem which is examined in the article before was not the article of scientific illumination. It served reason of appeal of author to the archived sources which are first entered in a scientific turn. Actuality of the article consists in that displays of panislamizm and pantyurkizm, having deep roots in the past, in one or another degree take place and now. Research is based on the documents of the Record Office of Republic Crimea, which were at one time geared-up Department of police and his Crimean structures. An author comes in to the conclusion, that in Crimea, as well as in other regions of the Russian empire, where a moslem population lived compact, panislamist and pantyurkist motion was got by development. This motion was headed the representatives of intelligentsia, well-off and influential persons. One of them was Ismael
Gasprinskiy, leader of pantyurkist motion of all-russian scale. Panislamizm in Crimea was organizationally designed as organizations of «Conscience». This structure can be considered the first national political party of Crimean Tatars. Crimean pantyurkists and panislamists had regular connections with the centers of Russian, Turkish, Romanian moslem motions. The fact of organization of group of the Crimean national revolutionaries in the capital of Turkey deserves attention. It is the important certificate of the close interlacing revolutionary and panislamist activity.