Recent studies have provided strong arguments in favor of the idea tha
t most hadrons (including the nucleon) are actually bound not because
of confining forces, but mainly due to the instanton-induced forces. Q
uite different effective interactions in various mesonic and baryonic
channels can be explained in this way. Moreover, many hadronic paramet
ers and even the point-to-point correlation functions are quantitative
ly reproduced by the simplest possible ensemble of instantons, the so-
called ''Random Instanton Liquid Model'' (RILM). Recent lattice works
have confirmed it, essentially deriving the ''instanton vacuum'' from
lattice configuration by their ''cooling''. At non-zero temperatures t
he (quark-induced) interaction between instantons becomes much stronge
r, and at the critical temperature T = T-c the chiral symmetry becomes
restored, due to ''pairing'' of the instantons and the anti-instanton
s into a kind of ''(I) over bar I molecules''.