Individual Democratic Institutions Research Fellowships 1994-1996

The research reports reproduced here are the responsibility of the individual authors. Their reproduction does not imply any form of official or unofficial endorsement by NATO. The reports are offered in unedited form, as presented by their authors, with a view to make their findings available to a wide audience. Ukraine And European Security - International Mechanisms As Non-Military Options For National Security Of Ukraine. Bohdan Lupiy [Back to Index] Introduction The world has not yet adjusted to the changes wrought by the end of the Cold War. The elimination of external and ideological patronage of the great powers and several economic difficulties have allowed centrifugal forces to take hold in many multi-national states in Eastern Europe. These drastic alterations of international order have also caused a great deal of disorder in newly independent Ukraine, where felicity of the first days of independence changed quickly after on influential frustration and disillusionment about the expected prosperous and secure future. The turmoil, which threatened the development, or even existence of young Ukrainian state has gripped the conscience of national leaders and demanded concrete actions. By and large, the collapse of the USSR was unexpected for Ukrainian political groups, Communist party functionaries and individuals, and Ukraine's most pressing task, from the beginning has comprised the very essence of national security. At the same time, the emergence of the new states in Eurasian area indicated a need for a shift and reconciliation in Western political process toward an increasing role of these countries in the post-Cold War environment. The need for a new strategy has also been highly pressing by several conflicts over the inheritance of the arms-control treaties by some Soviet-sucessor states., and particularly over the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Conventional Forces in Europe Treaties . Emerging in the aftermath of all these processes and succeeding comparatively good potential in recent economic and political reforms, Ukraine is still desperately searching for effective ways to settle its security challenges. Considering the size, geopolitical importance of this newly-emerged state and its special place in the history of Russia, it seems to be effective to examine and investigate the main trends which ruled the policies of this country since the appearance of it on international arena. At the same time, it is equally practical to make an attempt of an analytical projection of Ukraine's policies in forthcoming years. With this goal in top, given research is set up to give a rational account to the processes, currently existing in the frame of Ukraine's foreign and security policies, as well as to define possible key elements for the management of current security challenges to this country. The research touches upon three main levels or themes: First, the role of national security in state policy and impact of internal (domestic) and external (international) political processes on Ukrainian security; Second, the function of state foreign policy as a main tool for strengthening country's security and preserving national interests; And third, the role of international organizations in the security policies of newly independent states. Given study consists of four chapters. It begins with an examination of state security complex of Ukraine and tries to define a range of possible internal and external risks to country's security. Chapter II describes the essentials of the Ukrainian foreign and security policies, and main trends which were applied for their conduct by Ukrainian leadership. This chapter also suggests two possible approaches for Ukraine's further tactic on regional and international levels. For this purpose, the study presupposes two approaches - 'gradual' and 'evolutionary' models of integration to the international organizations as only feasible in the nearest future. Chapter III inspects the feasibility of 'gradual' approach for Ukraine's foreign and security policies. The investigation is based upon evaluation of two options of 'gradual' integration - Eurasian and Central European. It also observes current level of Ukraine's relationships with Russia and other Eastern European countries. And finally, Chapter IV focuses on assessment of Ukraine's most likely course of action in attempting to follow the 'evolutionary' method in its further security and foreign policy's implementation. For this reason, the analysis concentrates specifically on Ukraine's present and most likely course of actions within the framework of international organizations - Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe, Council of Europe, NATO, European Union, WEU and Western European financial establishments. The methods for conducting of the following study are analytical examination and multi-disciplinary method of social sciences. The theoretical and informative parts of the research are formed by Ukrainian and as well as by Western European sources. Among Ukrainian groundworks prevail the publications in academic periodical issues, reprints of signed documents, materials of Foreign and Defence Ministries of Ukraine, Working papers of the International Institute of Global and Regional Security Studies in Kiev, Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, bulletins of the Council of Foreign Advisors to the Ukrainian Parliament, Ukrainian Legal Foundation and US/Ukraine Foundation. Entire material which is used for elaboration of this study is represented by Western academic editions in the field of International Studies and Social Sciences, periodical issues, as well as research studies and informative materials of non-governmental establishments, especially the Institute for East/West Studies in New York and Prague, Carnegie Foundation, Open Media Research Institute, Central European University in Prague. In addition, while elaborating this study, the author also used several materials, produced by Eastern European academic institutions - Institute of International Relations of the Czech Republic, Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Russian Center for Geopolitical and Military Forecasts, Hungarian Institute of International Relations.