Neighborhood Policy in Different Regions of the World: Prevention VS Reactivity?

The current stage in the development of international relations can be characterized by several key trends, including the formation of a multipolar world, geopolitization of several actors in international relations, and securitization of security issues. These trends manifest themselves differently in various regions of the world. Under these conditions, regional powers, seeking to preserve their role and further spread their influence in a certain geographical space close to them, implement a neighborhood policy considering the specifics of a certain region. They do it in different ways. Neighborhood policies of such actors as the EU, the US, the Russian Federation, and China stand as vivid cases. Their relations with their neighbors are often not only strategic but also existential. Often, security threats in one country become a threat to security in the entire region. Maintaining good neighborly relations is also important from the point of view that the loyalty of neighbors to a regional power can affect its role in international affairs and its confidence in them, i.e., its ontological security. Therefore, an important question arises whether the neighborhood policy of regional powers is preventive, aimed at nipping a problem in the bud, or reactive, aimed at managing crisis situations. Considering the abovementioned, the aim of the section is to identify the peculiarities of the implementation of the neighborhood policy on the example of various regional cases.