Geopolitical View of Ukraine: History of Development and Specifics of its Current Transformation

strengthening of national and political movements;

emergence of the first scientifically developed geopolitical ideas and visions;

study of possible geopolitical alliances for the pursuit of Ukrainian interests;

at the beginning of the 20th c., establishment of the Ukrainian People's Republic and the Western Ukrainian People's Republic, with their subsequent unification;

from the mid-20th c., unification of the entire Ukrainian territory within the Ukrainian Soviet Socialistic Republic as a union republic of the USSR (Soviet Union).

substantiation of the idea of a full state independence of Ukraine and expediency to consider its territory on the ethnic principle in the works of Hrushevsky (1866–1934);

in the works of Rudnytsky (1877–1937)—analysis of the world geopolitical system and the place of Ukraine in it; proof of the necessity of Ukraine's independence and the creation of Galician statehood as its intermediate variant; substantiation of the priority of the national rather than geographical principle in the formation of the states of a new Europe; substantiation of the idea of the Baltic-Pontic Federation, as opposed to Russian expansion;

as a result of the activities of Skrypnyk (1872–1933) and other national democrats, support was given to ethnic Ukrainians outside the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic, and the expediency of expanding its borders at the expense of neighbouring ethnic Ukrainian territories was developed;

Synyavsky (1866–1951) studied in his works the geopolitical processes in Europe; substantiated the expediency of ‘Pan-Europe’ formation; studied the economic interests of the USSR in the Middle East;

Khvylovy (1893–1933) substantiated in his works the need to reorient Ukrainian literature to Europe and overcome dependence on Russian culture;

in the works of Bochkovsky (1884–1939) the theoretical basis of ethnopolitics was formed, the author considered it as a science that studies the specifics of the relationship between nation and state;

in the works of Lypynsky (1882–1931) a sociological theory was developed, where the nation was formed based on ‘territorial patriotism’; the author studied the issue of cultural division of Ukrainians and the need for their harmonious combination;

the idea of creating the Adriatic Union (Ukraine, Czechoslovakia, Balkan Slavic countries) based on mental and historical commonality in the works of Tomashivsky (1864–1938) and Shelukhin (1864–1938) was developed;

substantiation of the idea of the ‘Black Sea Doctrine’ in the works of Lypa (1900–1944), in which the Black Sea basin had to unite the territories that belonged to it into a powerful political unit;

in the works of Kubiyovych (1900–1985), the right of Ukrainian ethnic lands to unite into a single Ukrainian state was proved; the author politically and geographically substantiated and supported the independence of Carpathian Ukraine;

as a result of the activities of the ‘main liberation council’ formed in July 1944, the idea of the formation of the Ukrainian independent conciliar state was developed and the idea of cooperation with all the enslaved peoples of Europe and Asia was proclaimed;

in the works of the intelligentsia of the emigrant movement in the 1950s, ethnopolitical and geopolitical problems of the Ukrainian people were studied and the idea that the balance of nation-states can become a guarantee of a new international order was developed.

Sosnovsky (1919–1975) in his works analysed the activities of Ukrainian foreign forces and studied the reasons for the lack of their significant results;

as a result of the activities of the young creative intelligentsia called ‘the sixties’ (1960–1970) the expediency of the development of Ukrainian literature was substantiated; the reasons of the crisis of the Ukrainian nation, its culture, ideology, identity were explained;

as a result of the resistance movement to the Soviet regime (1970–1980) called ‘dissidents’, the negative influence of Soviet ideology on all spheres of public life of ethnic Ukrainians was substantiated, a new worldview about the future of Ukrainian lands within the Soviet Union and abroad was formed.

the state territory has unique natural conditions, including sufficiently fertile soils, a significant amount of minerals, favourable climatic conditions;

sufficient road development and Ukraine's access to the seas;

significant length of state borders;

location of the state's territory in the geographical centre of Europe and geographically advantageous location of Ukraine on the cross-border of Europe and Asia—trade routes between Europe and Asia intersect in its territory;

the state's membership in the Baltic-Black Sea-Caspian region and its transit position between the Caspian region, the Middle East and Europe;

Ukraine's international transit potential related to its position in the pan-European transport zone of the Black Sea basin;

favourable transit position of Ukraine for the transport of Russian energy to Europe;

institutional cooperation of the state with a large number of international organisations of regional and global nature and Ukraine's participation in the formation of regional integration within the Baltic-Black Sea-Caspian region (the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development (GUAM) and The Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC).

cultural, mental and ideological differences between the East and the West of the state, their insufficient connection in the process of historical formation of Ukrainian statehood;

problems with the demarcation of the land border with Belarus and Moldova and lack of a maritime border with Russia;

diversity of views about the state's regional affiliation and orientation;

Ukraine's dependence on the Russian energy transport and insufficient provision of the state with its own energy resources, as well as insufficient use of alternative energy resources;

suboptimal geographical structure of foreign trade relations (predominance of regional cooperation over international).

introduction of an effective regional policy to overcome the disparities in regional economic development;

implementation of all possible means to overcome the demographic crisis and the return of Ukrainian labour migrants to their homeland;

ensuring a system of optimal relations between ethnic Ukrainians and ethno-national minorities;

purposeful formation of a positive and objective image of Ukraine in the world mass media;

implementation of effective practical geopolitics within the state borders to eliminate problematic issues of territorial and political integrity of the state, creating favourable conditions for its domestic and foreign policy development;

gradual, purposeful exit from the (political, economic, cultural and information) power field of Russia without the use of provocative actions and with the preservation and strengthening of its position in the Russian (sub-regional) market;

formation and implementation of a geostrategy based on the priority of national interests, development of aggregate capacity, greater international prestige and a comprehensive understanding of global and European processes.

presence of a large number of political parties and diversity of their orientations;

regional disparities in socio-economic development levels;

ongoing serious demographic crisis, which was the result of population aging, declining birth rates and mass illegal labour migration to better developed neighbouring countries;

penetration of illegal migrants, contraband, goods, drugs and criminal groups through the problematic areas of the border;

existence of a common border with the self-proclaimed Transnistrian Moldavian Republic and the proximity to the conflict-generating Caucasus region, which have become centres of political and military tension;

geographical position of Ukraine in the so-called buffer zone between regional economic (EU and the Russian Federation) and military-political centres of global power (NATO and the Russian Federation);

expansionist policy and geopolitical pressure from Russia which are aimed at the dissociation of Ukrainian society with further intentions of full control over the situation in Ukraine. As the result of such policy, since 2014 bloody war in eastern Ukraine has begun and two self-proclaimed republics in its eastern territories have been formed—Lugansk People's Republic and Donetsk People's Republic. Moreover, in 2014 Russia annexed Ukrainian Crimea.

first attempts at Ukrainian statehood formation;

emergence of first ideas about Ukrainian geopolitical subjectivity;

evaluation of the role and importance of Ukrainian ethnic lands inside and outside the states to which they belonged;

germination of first Ukrainian geopolitical view.

appearance of the first data about territorial and political information about Ukrainian lands (chronicles of Kievan Rus and the Galicia-Volyn state), which described the territory of Kievan Rus, division into tribes, the nature of dynastic relations, the place of Kievan Rus in the political world of those times.

as a result of the liberation war, Ukrainian statehood was restored;

hetmans’ governments were oriented towards creating broad international coalitions;

important international agreements were signed;

the first cartographic materials and descriptions of Ukrainian lands by foreign researchers appeared, like works of the French engineer Boplan (1600–1673);

in the Constitution by Orlyk (1710) the basic democratic principles of the independent Cossack Ukraine political organisation were explained.

representatives of the ‘Russian Trinity’ substantiated the idea of the unity of Ukrainians in the West and East and their separation from the Poles and Russians and demanded the autonomy of Ukrainian lands in Galicia (south-western territory);

based on socialist consideration, the idea of an independent Ukraine was developed by the first political parties, which was explained in the work ‘Ukraine irredenta’ by Bachynsky (1895).

in 1845–1846, representatives of the Cyril and Methodius Brotherhood developed the idea to create a Slavic Federation, one of the leading republics of which Ukraine had to be;

in the works of Drahomanov (1841–1895) the idea of Ukrainian autonomy as a part of federal Russia was proclaimed;

during this period, there was an increase in the number of scientific works on the study of Ukrainian people, including the first map of the settlement of Ukrainians by Velychko (1896); ethnic map of Subcarpathian Rus by Tomashivsky (1910); works of ethnographers, historians, conclusions of linguists.

protection of sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of the state and its population;

fight against any manifestations of anti-Ukrainian activities such as separatism, political extremism, corruption, attempts to federalise the state, etc.;

completion of the anti-terrorist operation in the east of the state and resolution of contentious territorial issues within its borders;

gradual reform of the state's defence sector in accordance with the main challenges of today or potential threats;

overcoming cultural and ideological contradictions between the East and the West of the state;

prevention of Ukrainian cultural and spiritual identity loss under the influence of external forces;

providing the state with sufficient information support to protect its own interests and counteract external information pressure.

diversification of energy supply sources and ways, reduction of energy dependence on Russia;

ensuring stable political, economic and democratic development and as a result, the formation of Ukraine as a powerful regional leader;

strengthening state participation in regional cooperation measures to combat piracy, terrorism, internationally organised crime, illegal transport of arms and illegal migration, as well as intensifying Ukraine's participation in Operation Black Sea Harmony to control shipping in the Black Sea;

implementation of such foreign policy activities that would provide Ukraine with the status of a guarantor of stability in South-Eastern Europe and the Black Sea-Caucasus region.

active support of the Ukrainian diaspora abroad and as a result, the formation of additional channels for the pursuit of the state's interests outside its borders;

increasing the state's economic potential and its economic security by integration into the world economy, as well as into the European energy and transport system;

the legal framework to improve the investment climate in Ukraine, protecting key sectors of Ukraine's economy from the possible foreign control, strengthening competitiveness of domestic products in domestic and foreign markets;

further development and improvement of the state transport infrastructure to intensify its activities in the system of international transport corridors;

balanced development of relations with the USA/NATO/EU with the further realisation of Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic intention.

developing Ukraine's participation in the activity of international and regional organisations in which the country is a member;

strengthening of Ukraine's participation in international peacekeeping missions, including its participation in solving the Transnistria and the Caucasus conflicts;

combating the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, overcoming its effects and implementing measures to solve this problem at international level;

Ukraine's formation as a strong independent subject of international relations, able to defend its own national interests, which does not depend on the geopolitical orientation of the neighbouring states and the ambitions of other regional leaders.