Rozhenko O. V.,
Moiseieva F. A.
Donetsk national university of economics and trade named
after M. Tugan-Baranovsky, Donetsk.
ukrainian place in global security
Geography and history of a country seriously influence
its home and foreign policy. Ukraine, geographically lying in the centre of
Europe, found itself geopolitically sandwiched between the West and Russia,
largely owing to the historic factor. Foreign policy preferences of different
representatives of the political elite and society between the East and the
West substantially differ. As state leaders demonstrate absence of a strategic
vision, political will and an ability to convince citizens in the rationale of
specific decisions, official Kyiv continuously teeters between two centers of
influence with regular sharp turns in the foreign policy vector. Such kind of
foreign policy brings about continuous internal confrontation of political
forces and, respectively, their adherents and opponents, and undermines respect
for the country in the international scene. The West has been tired by
Ukraine’s inconsistency and weakness, and the East has seen Ukraine as an
unreliable ally, or an enemy, dependent on how much Kyiv’s actions meet
Moscow’s expectations. One way or another, during two decades Ukraine did not
manage to establish equal, true, sincere partner relations with anyone. As a
result, Ukraine risks finding itself in a geopolitical buffer zone.
Ukraine’s search of its place in regional and
global systems takes place in the conditions of growing tension in the external
security environment, with emergence of new and aggravation of traditional
global challenges, regional and geopolitical rivalry, weakening of pan-European
and global security mechanisms. In the current situation Ukraine remains exposed
to both “Western” and “Eastern” influences, and the result of the “reset” in
their relations can be decisive for the future of both Ukraine and the whole
European region. This requires from Ukraine and its international partners
greater efforts for promotion of sound, mutually advantageous cooperation to
enhance the European security.
Assessment of the current strategic environment by experts
in any country will evidently have only slight differences, meeting by
substance the quotation from the US National Security Strategy: “In the two decades since the end of the Cold War, the
free flow of information, people, goods and services has accelerated at an
unprecedented rate. This interconnection has empowered individuals for good and
ill, and challenged state based international institutions that were largely
designed in the wake of World War II by policymakers who had different
challenges in mind. Non-state actors can have a dramatic influence on the world
around them. Economic growth has alleviated poverty and led to new centers of
influence. More nations are asserting themselves regionally and globally. The
lives of our citizens — their safety and prosperity — are more bound than ever
to events beyond our borders”.
Summing up competent assessments of the present
state of international security and strategic forecasts in that sector, a few
general conclusions can be made. First, the world has not become
safer, and the current generation will not have the luck to live in the era of
universal peace and stability. Second, most of the present-day
threats are of a global nature and require common approaches to counter them. Third, the character of threats
is changing faster than the governments’ and international institutions’
ability to counter them effectively.
Formation of the security environment is
dominated by globalization processes, becoming ever more intense.
They bring about sharp growth of transborder
flows of goods, services, human resources, technologies and traditions, but
also - of crime and weapons. Deepening interdependence unites the world, but
not necessarily makes it safer. Globalization, as we know, leads to
strengthening of some actors and marginalization of others, while growth of
mutual economic interests of countries does not give a full guarantee of
mistrust and confrontation problems’ solution. One cannot say how stable and
durable the current balance of power and interests among key actors is. After
all, in addition to strategic trends of social, political, economic,
technological development, there are also strategic shocks fundamentally
changing the flow of history.
The main factors now threatening global security
and likely to shape the security environment in the near future include:
•
the proliferation of nuclear and other weapons
of mass destruction;
•
the ambitions of international terrorist groups;
•
the persistence of corrosive regional, national,
ethnic, and religious rivalries;
•
the world’s increased reliance on potentially
vulnerable information systems;
•
the competition for petroleum and other
strategic resources;
• demographic changes that
could aggravate such global problems as poverty, hunger, illegal immigration,
and pandemic disease; and
• the accumulating consequences of environmental degradation,
including climate change.
Ukraine
is in a very complex and dynamic security environment. Despite its traditional
peaceful foreign policy, the state leadership failed to establish equal,
reliable, sincere partner relations with any of the key partners.
Thus,
we think that transferred factors influence negatively on development of
Ukrainian economy and considerably reduce economic strength of country,
regions, enterprises and all of citizens’ security.
Literature
1. Ukraine in global and European security coordinates. (Interviews). //National security &
defence 2010 ¹ 4.
p. 2-5.
2. The political economy of
national security: a
global perspective / E. B. Kapstein. – New York ETC: MCGRAW – Hill, 1992. – 232 p.