A new approach for the analysis of intermolecular interactions in a solution is proposed. The changes in the interaction energy components due to the solvent effects are estimated on the basis of the interaction energy calculated in the presence of the electric field induced in a polarizable medium, or in the field of the effective fragment potentials. Obtained results indicate a significant increase in stabilization resulting from electrostatic interactions as a result of the cooperative interactions between interacting subsystems and solvent molecules. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.