Stages and tendencies of formation of a network of institutions of higher education of Ukraine for the training of future international experts

International relations students in the form of diverse institutions of higher education is one of the main aspects which define stages, dynamics, character, and other aspects of its development. However, this problem has not become the subject of a special study, therefore the material, presented in the article, provides scientific and theoretical ideas on the defined problem and the grounds for taking into account the nature and trends of network development of higher education institutions which train international relations students to reforming the education system in Ukraine. The research uses general scientific methods (analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, generalization and comparison, etc.); disciplinary and interdisciplinary pedagogical, content analysis. The purpose of the article is to analyze the process of formation and development of the organizational network of higher education institutions of Ukraine, which provide professional training for international relations students, identification of its main phases, trends and peculiarities. Methods of research: analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, generalization and comparison, content analysis, systematical and structural, structural and functional. Results of the study are to determine and characterize the three main periods of formation and development of structural network of higher education institutions in Ukraine, which carry out the training of future international relations students: 1) 1944 - 1991, when it was carried out only at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv; 2) from 1992 to 1997/1998, when about ten state and private universities launched their work in this direction; 3) 1999 - 2017, when its number ranged from 15 to 45. In the last two periods, this process was marked by the tendencies of increasing regionalization and profile activity of higher education institutions.