On October 26, Dr. Mykola Riabchuk, a Senior Research Fellow of the Department of Political Culture and Ideology, delivered a guest lecture in Sapporo, at the Slavic Research Center of the University of Hokkaido. In his presentation, entitled „Return of Geopolitics? Russian War in Ukraine and the Prospects for the New Global Order”, he outlined the challenges that the Russian aggression poses not only to its primary victim, Ukraine, but also to global politics and economy, international law, institutions and fundamental liberal values and principles.

In speaker’s view, the antiquated concept of „geopolitics”, promoted in Russia and supported by some „political realists” in the West, assigns overblown importance to the nations’ hard power which entitles them arguably to special rights and exclusive „geopolitical” interests, and ignores the role of soft power of alternative concepts – of freedom, dignity and sovereignty, which determine resilience of minor and presumably „non-historical” nations who reject the role of political pawns on the global chessboard and assert their own political agency and will.

Mykola Riabchuk

Ukraine provides a graphic example of such a resilience in its national-liberation, essentially de-colonial war, and ushers in a new global order that would be certainly more just and stable in the case of Ukraine’s much-coveted, though not inevitable victory.

The journal “Political Studies”, the founder and publisher of which is the Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, is included in the international scientometric database Index Copernicus.

The journal entered the ICI Journals Master List indexing database. This database includes scientific publications that have undergone a multi-stage process of parametric evaluation. The main requirements for publications that are included in the list of indexed ones are compliance by the editorial office with the principles of transparent activity, academic integrity, confirmation of the quality of the work of the editorial office, editorial board and reviewers of the publication.

Scientific publications that meet the criteria and conditions of indexing receive the ICV index (Index Copernicus Value), which is an indicator of the level of development of a scientific journal and its scientific impact.

On November 7, 2023, the World Congress of Holodomor Researchers “Unpunished Genocides Repeat!” was held at National Pedagogical Drahomanov University. The scientific event was timed to the 90th anniversary of the memory of Ukrainians, destroyed in 1932-1933 by the communist totalitarian regime. Among the co-organizers of the Congress is the Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies of the NAS of Ukraine.

At the plenary session of the congress with the scientific report “Historical parallels between the crimes of communism, Nazism, racism. Totalitarian ideologies as a threat to humanity. Ukrainian Dimension” was delivered by Anatoliy Podolskiy, a leading researcher of the Department of Ethno-Politics of our Institute, Candidate of Historical Sciences. In his speech, the scientist focused on comparing the anti-Ukrainian policy of the Stalinist, communist regime in the USSR in the 1930s and the anti-Ukrainian propaganda and Russian military aggression against Ukraine by the Putin political regime. The speaker presented a substantiated thesis about the historical connections and historical parallels between the crimes of communism and the crimes of racism against Ukrainians in the 20th-21st centuries.

During the work of the Congress

During the work of the Congress, reports were made by Pavlo Hrytsenko, Ph.D., Professor, Director of the Institute for Ukrainian Language of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Vasyl Marochko, Ph.D., Professor, leading researcher of the Institute of Ukrainian History of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Heorhiy Papakin, Professor, Director of the M.S. Hrushevsky Institute of Ukrainian Archeography and Source Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kostyantyn Kolesnikov, PhD, Professor, Head of the Department of History of the Academy of the Customs Service of Ukraine, Volodymyr Dutchak, serviceman of the Azov Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine, PhD, Victoria Malko, Ph.D., Head of the Holodomor Research Center at the University of California, Fresno, other Ukrainian and foreign scientists.

According to the results of the work of the Congress, a corresponding resolution was adopted.

On November 3, 2023, an international conference on “Famine and Genocide” was held in Vienna, the capital of Austria. The organizer was the Institute of East European History of the University of Vienna and the Austrian-Ukrainian Commission of Historians. The meeting aroused the great interest of Austrian humanitarian scientists and was called to discuss at a professional level the question of the place of the Holodomor of 1932-1933 in Ukraine in the context of studying the phenomenon of genocide in the history of mankind in the 20th and 21th centuries.

Five speakers were invited to the conference, each of whom had a half-hour speech to highlight current issues on the topic of the international conference. Professor Wolfgang Müller, director of the Institute of East European History of the University of Vienna, opened the conference and gave an introductory speech. Swiss historian Professor Andreas Kappeler, who is a foreign member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, devoted his report to the coverage of the famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine in the press of Central and Western Europe at the time. Historian, professor at Stanford University (USA) Norman Naimark, author of the high-profile studies “Fire of Hate: Ethnic Cleansing in Europe in the 20th Century” and “Stalin’s Genocides”, analyzed the place and significance of the Holodomor in a number of genocides experienced by mankind. Leading researcher of the Institute of Ukrainian History of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Historical Sciences Valery Vasiliev devoted his report to the dynamics of relations between the center and the sub-center of power on the example of the leadership of Ukraine and Russia in 1932-1933.

November 3, 2023. Professor Wolfgang Müller speaks at the opening of the conference (Photo by Y. Shapoval)

 The chief researcher of the Department of Theory and History of our Institute, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Yuriy Shapoval took part in the conference. He focused on the problems of the methodology of reading the memories of contemporaries of the famine of 1932-1933, those who were not victims, but because of their ideological convictions took an active part in the implementation of the tragic Bolshevik social experiment.

It is important that the work of the conference on such a significant topic was not deprived of attention by the Embassy of Ukraine in Austria: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine, Candidate of Historical Sciences Vasyl Khymynets took part in the work of this scientific forum. It was he who in 2006, working as the first secretary of the Embassy of Ukraine in the Federal Republic of Germany, invited Professor Y. Shapoval to give a public lecture on the Holodomor in Ukraine at the Museum of the Berlin Wall.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine, Candidate of Historical Sciences Vasyl Khymynets and Yuriy Shapoval

They have known each other for about 40 years. From left to right: one of the participants of the conference, Head of the Department of Modern History and the History of Eastern and Southeastern Europe at the University of Klagenfurt (Austria), Professor Dieter Pohl, Yurii Shapoval, Professor Andreas Kappeler

On the website of the Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies of the NAS of Ukraine in the “Our publications” section the text of the monograph of the chief researcher of the Department of Theory and History of Political Science, Doctor of Historical Sciences, professor, corresponding member of the NAS of Ukraine V. F. Soldatenko “Concepts of the Ukrainian Revolution and National Unity in in the light of political practice of 1917–1920” is publicated.

In the monograph, an attempt is made to recreate the complex and contradictory process of ideological substantiation of the organically interconnected concepts of the Ukrainian national-democratic revolution and national unity, to trace their essential evolution under the influence of the experience of implementation in social and political practice in 1917–1920. Scientific analysis and evaluations have been carried out in the context of historiographic trends of different periods and schools.

The study was carried out within the framework of the research work “The Concept of the Unity of Ukraine: Origins, Evolution, Political Relevance” (state registration number: 0122U000572).

The book is intended for scholars, teachers of history, political science, graduate students, and anyone interested in Ukrainian political history and contemporary socio-political development of Ukraine.

Text of the monograph (PDF)

On October 26, 2023, the regional seminar of the International Political Science Association (IPSA) was held. Representatives of the national associations of Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia and Ukraine took part in the seminar.

On behalf of the Association of Political Sciences of Ukraine, the Head of the Department of Political Institutions and Processes of our Institute, Doctor of Political Sciences, Professor, corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Galyna Zelenko took part in the seminar.

The topic of the seminar was the coordination of efforts of national political science associations of the countries of the region to face global challenges.

Based on the results of the seminar, it was decided to prepare a collective monograph devoted to the analysis of the state of political science in the countries of the region; to hold a joint conference of national political science associations of the region in the spring of 2024 in Krakow, at which to discuss the challenges facing the countries of the region and the role of national associations in countering them.

On the 135th anniversary of the birth of the Holodomor researcher Dmytro Soloviy (1888–1966), on the pages of the popular Kyiv Post resource, the chief researcher of the Department of Theory and History of Political Science of our Institute, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Yuriy Shapoval posted a story about the scientist-researcher of the tragic during the Holodomor in Ukraine 1932–1933

Dmytro Soloviy left behind a motley, multi-genre printed heritage. It is important to emphasize – Yu. Shapoval notes – that Dmytro Soloviy was one of the first to turn to the study of the Holodomor in Ukraine, to a comprehensive analysis of the causes and consequences of this tragedy. He was one of the first to start collecting the testimonies of those who managed to survive the Holodomor, he wrote not only about the socio-economic, but also about the political causes of this phenomenon.

Publication of Yu. Shapoval in Kyiv Post

Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine became a co-organizer of the VII round table “History in us and we in history: psychology of historical memory”. Special project: “Civilizational subjectivity of Ukraine – Unity. Progressivness. Effectiveness” (offline-online mode), which took place on October 19, 2023 at the Institute of Social and Political Psychology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

The deputy director for scientific work of the Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, head of the Department of Theory and History of Political Science, Doctor of Political Sciences, Professor Yurii Shaihorodskyi addressed the participants of the round table with a welcoming speech.

Employees of the Department of Theory and History of Political Science of our Institute took an active part in the work of the round table.

Tetyana Bevz, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, chief researcher of the Department of Theory and History of Political Science, started the work of the round table with the report “Political value of the unity of Ukraine in the conditions of a full-scale war “, emphasizing that the idea of unity was and remains a basic national value for Ukrainians. The actualization of the topic of unity in the conditions of a full-scale war appeared with new force. After all, unity is both independence and territorial integrity of the state. The topic of Ukraine’s territorial integrity has become particularly acute since the occupation of Crimea and parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The report analyzes separate legislative amendments related to the reintegration of the occupied territories. Considerable attention is paid to the topic of territorial concessions proposed by some politicians and experts. The positions of the Ukrainian authorities, foreign researchers and the results of sociological studies regarding the restoration and preservation of the territorial integrity of the state are analyzed. The military and political leadership of the country, the speaker emphasized, are working hard on the strategy of deoccupation of Ukrainian territories, on freeing them from Russian aggressors.

The speaker emphasized that the unity and integrity of Ukrainians remain the fundamental values of Ukrainian statehood, which Ukraine today defends against Russian military aggression with the belief in the inevitable restoration of the state’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

During the work of the round table

Vyacheslav Yaremchuk, Doctor of Political Science, Associate Professor, leading researcher of the Department of Theory and History of Political Science, gave a speech “The phenomenon of unity as a powerful component of Ukraine’s national stability in the conditions of the Russian-Ukrainian war.” In particular, the report discussed the fact that a special role in national stability (including such components as national security, stability of the state and its institutions) is played by the phenomenon of unity, which is a kind of connection between members of society, something that unites them into a single whole. It is not only a matter of territorial and ethnic unity, but also a no less stable and important unity – mental (perception and interpretation of the world), as well as psychological, cultural and educational, etc. In this sense, we are talking about aggregate social capital, which is able to ensure the safety and well-being of citizens, a high level of their readiness and effectiveness in responding to threats and challenges to the civilizational progress of Ukraine.

Employees of the Department of Theory and History of Political Science of the Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine: Mykola Gorbatiuk – Candidate of Historical Sciences, senior researcher; Oleksandr Chorny – Candidate of Philosophical Sciences, Research Fellow; Valery Machuskyi – Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, junior researcher; graduate student Maryna Baranivska.

“Mapping the “Nation from Nowhere”: Imperial Knowledge and the Challenges of Decolonisation” was the title of a lecture given by Mykola Riabchuk, a leading researcher at the Department of Political Culture and Ideology of our Institute, PhD in Political Science, on 11 September at the University of Ghent (Belgium).

He draw his arguments on the concept of “Imperial Knowledge”, understood as a system of state-sponsored narratives that pursue a two-fold goal: glorification of the empire, its supposedly great, ‘universal’ culture and ‘unique’ historical role, and – depreciation, marginalization or sheer appropriation of cultures of subordinate nations, monopolization of a God-given (or History-given) right to speak on their behalf and mediate between them and the world – thus silencing them and making completely invisible.

That “knowledge”, conceived in Russia in the 18th century, has been developed, institutionalized and disseminated globally as presumably ‘scientific truth’. Still worse, it completely excluded the alternative voices, in particular voices of subjugated nations, from the public debate. All this made the Imperial Knowledge a root cause of many eventual problems, including a centuries-long international misperception of Russia, ignorance of Ukraine, and disastrously wrong Western policies vis-à-vis both countries and the entire Eastern Europe. The ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war, framed as a blatant attempt at a neo-imperial conquest, makes the task of revision and deconstruction of Imperial Knowledge highly urgent and topical – as a part of a much broader decolonization agenda.

Video recording of the lecture

Olena Andreeva, a junior researcher at the Department of Political Institutions and Processes of our Institute, Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science, has been selected to participate in the program for building the potential of young professionals “Prospects of multi-level governance, decentralization and human rights”.

The program is organized by Lund University as part of the Swedish Institute for Young Professionals Academy (SAYP). Every year, the university conducts comprehensive training intensives for young professionals from the countries of the Eastern Partnership of the EU and the Western Balkans. This program is aimed at exploring best practices in building governance structures in Sweden, as well as sharing experiences, enhancing knowledge and networking in the fields of public administration, policy-making and sustainable governance.

Lund University (Sweden)

An important part of the program is the exchange of experience between participants from different countries, such as Lithuania, Moldova, Georgia and Armenia, regarding the implementation of decentralization measures based on the principles of respect for human rights, through academic research, the work of public organizations, and the activities of public administration bodies. This year, five Ukrainian participants – representatives of the scientific community, institutions of civil society and local self-government – are taking part in the international academic program.

On September 25-26, 2023, an international conference was held in the city of Vicenza (Italy) on the topic “Russian Empire-USSR-Russian Federation: the evolution of Russian nationalism and its relations with Ukraine and other nationalities”. The organizers of the conference were the Foundation of the Institute of History (Vicenza), the Olympic Academy (Vicenza), the Institute of Resistance and Modern History of the Province of Vicenza, the Socio-Cultural Institute in Vicenza, the non-governmental organization Il Ponte/Mist.

Authoritative Italian scientists were invited to the conference, including Andrea Graziosi, Giovanna Brogi, Alberto Mazoero, Simona Merlo, Niccolò Pianchola and others. Among the issues discussed were the radicalization of Putinism, Russian nationalism in the Soviet Union from 1945 to its collapse, the evolution of Ukraine from a post-Soviet state to a national state in 1991–2022, the problems of the Holodomor as a political tool, the issue of relations between the Baltic states and Russia after the Cold War and many other interesting and important problems.

The only scientist from Ukraine invited to the conference was the Chief Researcher of the Department of Theory and History of Political Science of our Institute, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Yuriy Shapoval. He delivered the report “Vasyl Shulgin’s Transformation of Ukraine into the Russian Grand Duchy. An unknown pamphlet of a Russian monarchist from 1938”.

Opening. (Photo by Yu. Shapoval)

Yuriy Shapoval and one of the organizers of the conference, Professor Andrea Graziosi of the University of Naples

On September 21-24, 2023, the 16th Ukrainian-Polish meeting took place in the city of Yaremche – a traditional, unique scientific forum in Ukraine that unites Ukrainian and Polish social scientists. This year, more than 130 intellectuals: scientists, experts and diplomats took part in the discussion of current problems of interstate relations against the background of Russian military aggression.

On behalf of the co-organizers of the Forum – the Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the deputy director of the Institute for Scientific Work, Scientific Head of the Department of Global Political Development, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Oleksandr Mayboroda spoke. He expressed confidence that the Ukrainian-Polish meetings will produce valid and valuable opinions and proposals regarding the convergence of the positions of our countries on various issues of their mutual relations.

In his report, the scientist noted that now, when problems in relations between states are exposed and exacerbated, the international system is facing the threat of chaos, therefore a special role is given to the institute of public diplomacy. The speaker recalled that in times of crisis, when it is difficult for rulers to reach a consensus in interstate relations, the phrase “the people are wiser than the rulers” becomes popular. This phrase is, of course, a metaphor, and ordinary people expect wiser decisions and actions from representatives of the ruling class. The wisdom of the ruling class, the scientist noted, lies in the ability to listen to popular opinion.

Oleksandr Mayboroda is speaking

Oleksandr Mayboroda also emphasized that Ukraine and Poland together face the geopolitical danger that is looming from Russia. The joint Ukrainian-Polish struggle for the freedom of Europe, for the democratic order, for the rights of peoples and human rights is now the core of relations between the Republic of Poland and the State of Ukraine.

The work of the meetings was concentrated in six sections, which discussed important geopolitical, military, humanitarian, economic components of Ukrainian-Polish relations, determined their priorities and prospects.

Acting Head of the Department of Political Culture and Ideology of the Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Yuriy Nikolaiets gave a speech at the section “Military aid of Poland and the West for Ukraine: an appropriate response to security threats at the regional and global levels.”

Yuriy Nikolaiets reports

The Chief Researcher of the Department of Ethnopolitics of our Institute, Doctor of Political Sciences, Professor Oleg Kalakura took part in the work of the section “Ukraine Reconstruction: Challenges, Prospects, Directions”.

Conference participants

On 4–8 September 2023, the General Conference of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) took place at Charles University in Prague.

The European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) is an independent academic association founded in 1970. Jean Blondel and Stein Rokkan initiated the Consortium. Together with Peter de Janosi of the Ford Foundation and other prominent European scholars, they developed and implemented the concept of the European Consortium for the Promotion of Political Science. Twelve European universities founded the ECPR.

Today, ECPR has 350 institutional members from nearly 50 countries. The organization includes leading universities and tens of thousands of scholars and students engaged in research and teaching of political science.

The annual General Conference of the European Consortium for Political Research is a significant scientific event aimed at developing research in all areas of political science. Due to its comprehensive coverage and inclusive approach, it allows scholars from different continents and countries to come together and present and discuss the results of their research work.

The General Conference, which took place on 4–8 September 2023, brought together more than 2,000 participants at Charles University in Prague and online. This year, 67 sections and more than 500 panels were held to discuss the most topical issues in political science.

For the first time since the ECPR was established, a Ukrainian research institution was represented at the General Conference of this organization. This institution, following a competitive selection process, was the Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

Ukrainian scientists – participants of the ECPR General Conference

The section „Ethnopolitical Resilience of Ukraine” was held at Charles University in Prague and online (chaired by Anastasiia Dehterenko, Leading Research Scientist of the Ethnopolitics Department of the Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, PhD (Political Science), Associate Professor, and Viktor Kotygorenko, Head of the Ethnopolitics Department of our Institute, Doctor of Political Science, Professor).

The panel „Ethnopolitical Resilience of Ukraine: Humanitarian Aspects” was held online on September 5, 2023. Professor Anatoly V. Oleksiyenko from the Hong Kong Institute of Education made presentations at the panel (topic: „Internationalization and Geopolitics of Knowledge Production in the Embattled Ukraine”), as well as researchers of our Institute:

• Leading Research Scientist of the Ethnopolitics Department, Candidate of Philosophical Sciences Natalia Kochan (topic: „Profiling Civil Dimension of Religion”);
• Acting head of the department, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Yurii Nikolaiets (topic: „The informational aspect of political resilience of Ukraine”);
• Chief Research Scientist of the Ethnopolitics Department, Doctor of Political Science, Professor Oleg Kalakura (topic: „Ethno-cultural resilience of Ukrainian society in the context of Russia’s war against Ukraine”);
• Researcher of the Ethnopolitics Department, Candidate of Historical Sciences Oleksiy Liashenko (topic: „Identity as a factor of ethnopolitical resilience of Ukraine”);
• Junior Research Scientist of the Ethnopolitics Department, Candidate of Historical Sciences Valeriy Novorodovskyi (topic: „The participation of national minorities in public life in the conditions of the Russian-Ukrainian war”).

On September 6, 2023, the online panel „Resilience of the Ukrainian Nation and National Identity” was held. The presentations were made by the scientists of our Institute:

• Senior Research Scientist of the Ethnopolitics Department, Candidate of Historical Sciences Liudmyla Mazuka (topic: „The role of Ukrainians abroad in countering Russian aggression and in the reconstruction of Ukraine”);
• Head of the Ethnopolitics Department of our Institute, Doctor of Political Science, Professor Viktor Kotygorenko (topic: „The resilience of the modern Ukrainian nation: dynamics, potential, threats”);
• Chief Research Scientist of the Department of Political Culture and Ideology, Doctor of Political Science Volodymyr Kulyk (topic: „Impact of Russian aggression on Ukrainian ethnonational identity”),

as well as a leading researcher at the V.M. Koretsky Institute of State and Law of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Political Sciences Vira Yavir (topic: „Transformation of the Ukrainians’ ethnopolitical resilience phenomenon in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war”).

During the ECPR General Conference (at Charles University in Prague)

On September 7, 2023, at Charles University in Prague, the issues of Ukraine’s ethnopolitical resilience were discussed at the panel „The phenomenon of Ukraine’s ethnopolitical resilience: analyzing security and management issues”. The discussion was focused on the scientific papers of Dr. Oksana Huss from the Università di Bologna (topic: „Role of civic tech for resilience of Ukraine in the asymmetric war”), journalist Karin Kőváry Sólymos from Masaryk University (topic: „Hungarian revisionist narratives as a means of tension-building against Ukraine”) and Leading Research Scientist of the Ethnopolitics Department of the Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, PhD (Political Science), Associate Professor Anastasiia Dehterenko (topic: „Ethnopolitical management in Ukraine and selected EU states: a comparative analysis”).

On September 7-8, 2023, within the framework of the section “Transformation of the World System under the Influence of the Russian-Ukrainian War” (section chairs: Halyna Zelenko, Head of the Department of Political Institutions and Processes of the Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Political Sciences, Professor, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, and Oleh Kondratenko, Leading Researcher at the Department of World Political Development, Doctor of Political Sciences, Associate Professor), two panels were held: “Genesis and trajectory of Russian imperial policy” (chairman: Doctor of Political Sciences Oleh Kondratenko) and “Russian-Ukrainian war; Strategic and military consequences” (chairman: Candidate of Political Sciences Leonid Kiyanytsia).

The Institute’s researchers made scientific reports:

• Doctor of Political Sciences, Associate Professor, Leading Research Scientist at the Department of World Political Development Oleh Kondratenko (topic: “The Essence and Traditions of Russian Imperial Expansionism”);
• Candidate of Political Sciences, Leading Researcher at the Department of Political Institutions and Processes Natalia Kononenko (topic: “Consolidation of society during the war and prospects for localization of the crisis of legitimacy of power in Ukraine”);
• PhD in Political Science, Research Fellow at the Department of World Political Development Leonid Kiyanytsia (topic: “Cooperation of Ukrainian Volunteer Organizations with European Governments and NGOs: Context of the Russian-Ukrainian War”);
• Junior Research Fellow at the Department of World Political Development Oleksandr Herasymenko (topic: “Main directions of influence of the Russian-Ukrainian war on the nature of interaction between civil society and the state in Eastern Europe”).

Scholars from a number of foreign institutions also took part in these panels and made presentations:

• Professor of the Free University of Brussels Olesia Tkachova (topic: “Political economy of military mobilization in authoritarian Russia: Evidence from Big Data Analysis”);
• Professor Jan Ludwik of Charles University (topic: “Russia-Ukraine. Frozen conflict: results of an expert survey”);
• Professor of the University of Defense of the Czech Republic Jan Ferina (topic: “War in Ukraine: Consequences for China in case of invasion of Taiwan”)
• Professor of Kadir Has University of the Republic of Turkey Dogush Sonmez (topic: “Putin’s Third Term (2012-2018): Is it a Russian Imperial Declaration?”)
• Professor Fabien Bossait, Ghent University of the Kingdom of Belgium (topic: “The influence of images on Russia’s actions in the neighboring region: a political psychology perspective”).

At its meeting on August 31, 2023, the National Council of Ukraine on Television and Radio Broadcasting registered the Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine as a subject in the field of print media and entered the journal “Political Studies”, the founder and publisher of which is the Institute (decision of the National Council of Ukraine on Television and Radio Broadcasting No. 792 dated 31.08.2023, protocol No. 20).

On the website of the Institute, in the “Our Publications” section, the text of the monograph of the authors’ collective “Ethnopolitics in Ukraine in the context of modern socio-political changes: real state, challenges, prospects” is posted.

The monograph analyzes the experience of European countries’ policies in the ethnopolitical sphere and the possibilities of its use in domestic ethnopolitical practices. The dynamics of changes in national and civic identities in Ukraine and the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war on these dynamics are studied. The problem of interrelation and mutual influence of ethnic policy and migration policy in the context of Russian aggression and subsequent reconstruction is actualized. The models of state policy in the religion sphere of Ukraine are comprehended, the essential features of secularization measures are substantiated. The peculiarities of the memory policy in context of the information war imposed by Russia are substantiated. The authors formulated proposals for public authorities and local self-government bodies on modeling and implementing domestic ethno-national policy in wartime and post-war modernization processes.

Text of the monograph (PDF)

Ukraine celebrates the 32nd year of Independence!

 Today, Ukrainians with weapons in their hands are defending their right to live in an independent and sovereign state, the right for freedom, the right to choose their own future.

Ukrainians are united in defending their independence, striving to restore territorial integrity and build a strong European state.

We are grateful to everyone who stands guard over our Motherland, and we honor those who sacrificed their lives in the fight for Ukraine.

On the day of the celebration of the 32nd anniversary of the restoration of the Independence of Ukraine, when our people are fighting against the Russian invaders for the life of their state, defending our will, honor, dignity and independence, we wish each other victory and the long-awaited peace.

We believe in our soldiers, in the strength of our spirit, in our victory!

 Happy Independence Day, Ukraine!

Happy Ukrainian Independence Day to all of us!

On August 17, 2023, another discussion of issues of resuming the military modernization of Ukraine took place within the framework of the project “Voice of civil society reforming and implementing the recovery plan of Ukraine” (“Luhansk Declaration”). This project is administered by the public organization “Agency for Reconstruction and Development” with the support of the European Endowment for Democracy in partnership with the Center for Political and Legal Reforms. In total, 20 thematic discussions for the participants of scientists, representatives of civil society institutions, politicians and government officials have already taken place within the scope of the project.

The focus of the August discussion is the planning of the executive branch of government, its adaptation to the needs of the post-war transformation of Ukraine and institutional changes in the context of compliance with EU standards.

The leading researcher of the Department of Political Institutes and Processes of the Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, candidate of political sciences Natalia Kononenko took part in the discussion. The scientist focused on the fact that in order to increase the institutional efficiency of the executive power and its synchronization with the activity format of similar European institutions, it is necessary to supplement the State Administration Reform Strategy for the period 2022-2025. ). .2021) norms, goals and indicators for measuring the effectiveness of public administration developed by SIGMA for countries seeking EU membership. Nataliya Kononenko emphasized that SIGMA is one of the most prestigious analytical centers of the EU, which was founded by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the European Union in 1992 and is an agent of the EU in matters of developing public administration standards for national European governments.

During August 13–17, 2023, the Ukrainian Center for Holocaust Studies organized the educational seminar-school “The History of the Holocaust in Ukraine: Study, Teaching, Memory.” The founder and head of the Ukrainian Center for Holocaust Studies, the leading researcher of the Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Candidate of Historical Sciences Anatoliy Podolskiy and head of the Department of Political Culture and Ideology of the Institute, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Yuriy Nikolaiets.

Yuriy Nikolaiets is speaking

In his speech “Multiple Crimes Against Humanity: Holocaust, Famine, Genocide, War Crimes and Their Modern Qualification”, Yuriy Nikolaiets characterized modern approaches to defining war crimes, highlighted the main limitations of the methods of waging war, recorded in international humanitarian law. He also identified separate actions of the Russian Federation in the war against Ukraine, which can be qualified as war crimes, namely: physical extermination of the part of the population of the temporarily occupied territories; deportations of the population of temporarily occupied territories; relocation of the population from the Russian Federation to the temporarily occupied territories; attacks on civilian infrastructure objects (including the unprecedented destruction of hydraulic structures, which was considered a war crime as early as the 3rd millennium BC in Ancient Egypt); tortures of prisoners of war and civilians; mobilization of the population of the temporarily occupied territories into the armed forces of the Russian Federation; the destruction of settlements, not due to the needs of conducting hostilities; forced removal and non-return of children. The scientist also highlighted analogies in the war practices of Germany in 1939–1945 and the Russian Federation in the Russian-Ukrainian war from 2014.

​​Anatoliy Podolskiy is speaking

Anatoliy Podolskiy in his speech “Peculiarities of the history of the Holocaust in the European context” emphasized the importance of understanding the typology and peculiarities of events from the history of the Holocaust on the territory of Ukraine and other lands of the European continent. Special attention of the speaker was given to modern academic and educational challenges, regarding the comparison of the crimes of National Socialism during the Second World War and the war crimes of the Russian occupiers in Ukraine during their aggression and war against our state. It was noted that the policy of state anti-Semitism of the Hitler regime in Germany during the Second World War has common features with the overt Ukrainophobic policy of Putin’s totalitarian regime during the Russian war against Ukraine.

Participants of the seminar

30 history teachers of comprehensive secondary educational institutions and teachers of higher education institutions from 16 regions of Ukraine took part in the work of the seminar-school.

Program of the seminar-school

Photo of the seminar-school

On July 28, 2023, a round table “Actual issues of the protection of the national statehood in modern conditions” was held on the basis of the National Academy of the Security Service of Ukraine. The event was co-organized by the Security Service of Ukraine and the Center for the Protection of National Statehood. The main thematic areas of the round table were defined as: the Security Service of Ukraine as the main subject of the protection of national statehood; the legal grounds for the interaction of the Department and regional divisions of the National Statehood Protection Service of the Security Service of Ukraine with other subjects of the security sector, authorities and management on matters of national statehood protection; peculiarities of the investigation of crimes related to encroachments on state sovereignty, constitutional order, territorial integrity, and information security of Ukraine under the conditions of the introduction of the legal regime of martial law; foreign and national experience of countering special information operations based on the analysis of open sources of information, etc. The work of the round table was attended by acting head of the Department of Political Culture and Ideology of the Institute, Doctor of Historical Sciences Yuriy Nikolaiets and leading researcher of the Department of Political Institutions and Processes, Candidate of Political Sciences Rostyslav Balaban.

Yuriy Nikolaiets

 In his report, Yuriy Nikolaiets noted that the emergence and development of the informational society made possible a sharp increase in the influence of mass communication on the development and course of interstate conflicts. In modern conditions, mass communications have become an important element of conducting hybrid warfare. Analysis of the information space of Ukraine allows us to state that the information war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine began immediately after the collapse of the USSR and was aimed against the establishment and development of Ukrainian statehood. Informational and psychological special operations were aimed at restoring a union state centered in Moscow, discrediting the processes of Ukrainian state-building and the ability of Ukrainian politicians to participate in effective state management, provoking inter-ethnic and inter-regional enmity, forming regional identity, discrediting law enforcement and judicial bodies, spreading in Ukrainian society negative attitude to service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

 Means of mass communications were used to form separatist attitudes, irredentism in a number of Ukrainian regions. For this purpose, messages were spread about the so-called “Galician separatism”, the development of political Ruthenism, “the original belonging of Crimea and Donbas to Russia.” For a long time in Crimea and Donbas, local mass media, which acted quite legally, participated in the dissemination of anti-Ukrainian messages. Anti-Ukrainian statements were present even in the pre-election programs of a relatively large number of candidates for people’s deputies, program documents of individual public associations. The long-term absence of a balanced state information policy made possible the formation of anti-state sentiments in Ukrainian society. This was especially noticeable among the population of the South and East of Ukraine. The anti-Ukrainian informational campaign of the Russian Federation intensified at the beginning of the 21st century in the conditions of the pre-election struggle in Ukraine and the Orange Revolution and acquired clearly defined anti-state features already during the time when V. Yushchenko was the President of Ukraine. It was then that theses about “the existence of two Ukraines”, “the spread of fascism and neo-Nazism” in Ukraine and “the development of Ukraine as a Western project of ”anti-Russia”” were formed. Over time, the informational war became one of the most important components of the Russian-Ukrainian war, at the beginning of which the enemy managed to temporarily occupy Crimea and part of Donbas. The current position of the leading players on the world political arena will contribute to the preservation of the Russian Federation on the political map of the world in a certain “updated” form. In the near future, there are no prerequisites for the disintegration of the Russian Federation as a result of the sharp deterioration of the economic situation in this country. Therefore, it should be taken into account that the agreement concluded with the Russian Federation on the end of the war/special military operation will not mean the refusal of the Russian side to continue the hybrid war against Ukraine in the format of information warfare, economic and trade wars, political pressure and war in cyberspace, etc. And even Ukraine’s prospective accession to NATO cannot be a guarantee of the Russian Federation’s refusal to continue the hybrid war against Ukraine.

Rostyslav Balaban

 In his speech, Rostyslav Balaban emphasized that the successes of the Armed Forces, Security Service of Ukraine, intelligence, volunteers, optimistic public mood and consolidation, all that today fills the essence of statehood, ensures its legitimacy and stability – can be leveled by corruption. Russia’s war against Ukraine revealed that the state management apparatus, law enforcement and judicial bodies are saturated with agents of the Russian Federation, whose task was the destruction of Ukraine’s statehood. As of August 2022, the Chesno movement declared that 348 politicians had become traitors. The large-scale spread of corruption has become a problem for Ukraine. Corruption schemes did not cease to exist even during the war, when new means appeared for the enrichment of corrupt officials. In Ukraine, there are still opportunities for obtaining illegal benefits due to imperfect competition and theft of property on a particularly large scale. Unfortunately, there are also rare cases of embezzlement of humanitarian aid that comes to our country from foreign partners. The growth of trust in the state, which took place in the conditions of a full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, is threatened by the spread of information about corruption in power structures of various levels. Countering the spread of corruption does not lead to its elimination as a phenomenon. On the contrary, certain acts of corruption are becoming increasingly attractive to citizens. At the same time, the organization of repelling the aggressor gave rise to new creative initiatives, literature, humor, the emergence of new performers, some of whom are in the war zone, which can testify to the cultural phenomenon of revival and is an important component of state formation. Corruption has turned out to be a permanent institution that threatens the economic competitiveness of the state and the existence of statehood in general. Despite the presence of eight anti-corruption bodies and individual cases of detaining corrupt officials, the fight against corruption has not become systematic. It is fundamentally important that the fight against corruption does not become the destruction of opponents, the political opposition, a mechanism of raiding, which has a high probability. In order to ensure a more successful fight against corruption, the Security Service of Ukraine must undergo reform itself, since it has not escaped the problems inherent in the state system. Overcoming corruption is an important systemic step in the protection of the national state of Ukraine. The consequences will be an increase in the level of defense capability, an acceleration of economic development, an increase in trust in government institutions, and the formation of a comfortable environment for society.

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