The goal of this article is to analyze prohibited means and methods of armed conflicts under the International Humanitarian Law (IHL). Technological progress, the transformation of the nature of armed conflicts and the idea of the war based on terror are the main reasons why the list of prohibited means and methods of armed conflicts should be constantly updated. The main text of this article consists of three thematic blocks. The first block represents an excursion into the history and development of IHL. It outlines its division into two branches, the Geneva and Hague law. The second part consists of definitions and characteristics of basic terms such as means and methods of armed conflicts. Under the means of warfare it is understood weapons, military equipment and other means used to cause harm and defeat the enemy. Methods of warfare are the procedures for using certain means to suppress the troops of the opposing side and inflict losses on it at the very minimum acceptable level. The third part of the study is devoted to new methods and means of warfare, among which the author analyzes such phenomena as hybrid wars, cyberwar and the involvement of private military and security companies in military operations. Hybrid wars, widespread in the 21st century, raise very complex issues related to the classification of a conflict, as the line between the state of war and peace is blurring. Most often, information about the nature of third-party intervention is kept secret. Moreover, such a third party refuses to acknowledge its participation in hostilities. It is concluded that parties to hybrid wars are required to comply with international standards that limit the methods and means of warfare and protect their victims. The article examines the concepts of cyber war, identifies the main characteristics of this type of war. The main conclusion was made about the need of formation of new restrictive approaches regarding the prohibition of the use of cyber weapons. Another trend related to modern armed conflicts is the process of delegating the performance of traditional state functions by states in favor of private military and security companies. The conclusion is drawn on the need to develop international legal standards for the activities of private military and security companies within the UN.

The functioning of society is associated with a variety of threats and risks, which, in turn, determine the emergence of anxiety, anxiety, and fear. Tracking the dynamics of quantitative and qualitative indicators of such conditions during periods of economic crises, political and military conflicts, natural and man-made disasters, and pandemics is especially relevant. This article presents the authors’ theoretical substantiation of fear as a sociopsychological state of the individual. Also, based on the systematization of the results of empirical sociological research, analysis of the state, structure, and dynamics of collective and individual fears of the population of Ukraine in the period of independence 1992–2021 was carried out.

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The paper focuses on the institutional interaction in the network society. At this stage of Ukraine's political development, the process of further institutionalization (formation of institutions of a democratic society) requires the improvement of mechanisms of institutional interaction. First of all, it is about the interaction between the parliament, the president and the government, which takes place against the background of the institutionalization of the opposition and interest groups. Its main participants, which decisively influence the effectiveness of institutional interaction, include public authorities, the opposition and interest groups. It is these agents that this article focuses on. Modern institutional design is formed in the process of interaction between public authorities, the opposition and interest groups. This interaction is communicative. Therefore, this study combines institutional and communicative dimensions of political development. This led to use neoinstitutional methodology, especiallyhistorical institutionalism, the institutionalism of rational choice. From the point of view of historical institutionalism, the effectiveness of institutional interaction depends on the "path traveled", and representatives of rational choice institutionalism focus on opportunistic behavior and rent-seeking by public authorities in the process of institutional interaction. The main feature of effective governance is not just the presence of certain institutions, but ensuring their communication in order to solve pressing socio-political problems. The requirement to increase the effectiveness of communicative interaction is becoming a priority for post-Soviet countries.

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