Iryna Musiienko

Iryna Musiienko. Russian Imperial Discourse Overcoming in Intellectual Space of Europe as a Prerequisite for Ukraine’s Civilizational Choice Implementation

Civilizational choice of Ukraine in favor of Euro-Atlantic integration is outlined in its political conceptual legal documents - "National Security Strategy of Ukraine", the Laws "On Foundations of Domestic and Foreign Policy of Ukraine". They determine the integration into the political and economic structures of the European Union as a priority direction of foreign and domestic policy of Ukraine which shares common with the EU values and strategic goals. Prerequisites of Ukraine’s civilizational choice implementation is a new positioning of the state and its rebranding, creating of an integrated communication policy, strong international lobby, its positive image as a European country, overcoming the stereotype of "Alien, Different" in perceptions of Ukraine by foreign target audiences, European supranational identity designing, strengthening its presence in European social and cultural space.
In modern socio-humanistics there is a growing interest both to the civilization and imperial matters. Investigation of the outlined problem is multidisciplinary, based on the principles of ethnocentricity and state-centricity. The scientific exploration is aimed at solving the following problems: 1) to determine the impact of the Russian imperial discourse and Russian policy in Ukraine imaging on perception of Ukraine in Europe and making strategic political decisions by Europeans concerning our country; 2) to make recommendations on prevention of manipulation of public opinion and anti-Ukrainian informational operations and impact operations; 3) to outline the ways and mechanisms for correction of European perception of Ukraine and its image in accordance with the national interests.
The main external factor preventing Euro-Atlantic aspirations of Ukraine as its civilizational choice is neo-imperial revanchist Russia's position that seeks to restore its imperial status.  The war unleashed by Russia against Ukraine includes a large-scale information-psychological war, one of the target audiences of which are foreign public. The key purpose of this war is "obstructing the will of the Ukrainian people to have European future", i.e. negation of its civilizational choice, destruction of subjectivity and independence of Ukraine, the dismantling of the state, compromise of domestic and foreign policy of Ukraine, creation of the enemy image (which after R. Jervis should be considered as a way to influence decision-making on foreign policy of third countries with regard to Ukraine), return in the neocolonial status to the bosom of the newly created Eurasian empire. The means of specified purpose implementation is declaring within the imperial Russian discourse of Ukraine, its people, language and culture as "non-existent", "artificial", a "Project of western special services", Ukrainians – sub-ethnos of Russians, the Ukrainian language – as a dialect, the Ukrainian project unviable, and the Ukrainian state – the State that failed. The denial of the right of Ukrainian to have their own statehood most actively is performed in the field of history and culture. West society is imposed on Russian historical development scheme in which Ukraine has the role of history and territory object which is the area of the Russian national interests. Thus, the urgent threats to Ukraine's national security, its existence as a state and civilizational choice implementation are according to the National Security Strategy of Ukraine (2015) "the formation by the Russian means of mass communication of alternative to reality distorted informational picture of the world", "humiliation of the Ukrainian language and culture, falsification of the Ukrainian history".
The loss of Ukraine is a challenge to identity of Russia and according to Russian political scientist S. Havrov means the end of the imperial project, because without Ukraine new Russian neo-imperial project may be only the project of "returning to the Horde" ideological and military-political distancing from the West, the breakaway from Europe. Therefore the struggle for Ukraine is for Russia a struggle for survival and establishment as of an empire, it has the nature not only of a local or regional war, but it is a part of civilizational confrontation, a war of senses.
It should be recognized, that targeted anti-Ukrainian propaganda work of Russian ideologues that systematically was carried in Europe since the Petrine era, and is particularly relevant in the early twenty-first century, not prevented and not neutralized by the Ukrainian party, has borne fruit. In the humanitarian space of Europe there is still a monopoly presence of Russia, but Ukraine is absent; persistent stereotypes of Ukraine dominate; the image of the country is biased, prejudiced, politically committed, incompetent, fundamental Ukrainian Studies is at the stage of formation.
The lack of deep interest in the history of Ukraine and other Eastern European countries, double standards in attitude to them, led to uncritical assimilation by the western world of the imposed to it Russian scheme of East European history, Russian imperial discourse. Extremely slow "opening of Eastern Europe" contains great dangers for Europe. Indeed, the historical experience of European policy in this region has not been analyzed and considered by the society, the real correction work has not been performed. Consequently, there is no guarantee against the repetition of old scenarios of Munich consent or Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, when Eastern Europe was sacrificed for the sake of calm and peace in Western Europe, but instead of peace Europe got world war.
Today Ukraine is in the midst of ideological confrontation, collision of two civilizational ideas - Western European and Eurasian. In the European humanitarian space, as S. Datsiuk accurately noted, the war or struggle between two discourses – Russian imperial and Ukrainian anti-colonial is continuing. Russia's neo-imperial discourse is embodied in theory of neo-eurasianism. Ukraine can stand up with dignity for its anti-colonial discourse and civilizational choice, by means of opposition to neo-eurasian conception of Russia its own theoretically grounded scientific direction – Ukrainian Studies (Ukrainistics), which Hrushevsky called "policy and philosophy of state." The fundamental foreign ukrainistics has to become a translator of the image and national idea of Ukraine in the world humanitarian space.
Russia allocates significant funds to promote its own image as a regional power and new empire center; it has great communicative resource that was partly inherited from the Soviet Union, quite skilled personnel that actively uses the achievements of Western science and experience; tries to own initiative; behaves in the communicative space rather aggressively. Russia has managed to create a strong lobby of "Putin’s friends" and so-called "persons who understand Russia", cooperating with the Russian special services, politically and economically biased.
However, the political elite of Ukraine failed to develop a national strategy on protection of national interests in the international arena. Experts point out serious shortcomings and mistakes in creating a coherent communication policy, implementation of effective foreign management of the state, qualified state imaging, strengthening Ukraine's presence in socio-cultural space of Europe, state support for fundamental Ukrainistics and Ukrainian Studies. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop science-based strategy of Ukrainian national discourse protecting, foreign state image promoting, which will guarantee the implementation of civilizational choice of Ukraine – Euro-Atlantic integration.

Гуманітарні аспекти євроінтеграції Польщі: досвід для України (на матеріалах польського щоквартальника «Studia Europejskie») Проаналізовано праці польських учених Європейського Центру Варшавського університету, в яких висвітлюється теоретичні засади гуманітарної складової євроінтеграції Польщі. The works of polish scientists from the European Center of Warsaw University which take up theoretical principles of humanitarian component of European Integration of Poland are analyzed in the article.

In article have been analysed problems of history, research and organizational work of the Humanitarian centre of science of history and culture of central-east Europe, its structure, scientific personnel potential, the area of scientific activity, the contribution of scientists of the Center to development of Ukrainian-German scientific relations, modern Ukrainistik.

The literary activity of the German writer of Bukovina Gregor von Rezzori in many aspects reflects the history and culture of the region. In this respect his autobiographic book "The Snow of Yesterday", dedicated to the childhood of the writer in Bukovina, is of considerable interest Via the portraiture of the family and the land of childhood it gives the idea of the conditions in which Rezzori’s character was formed, the roots of his mentality, the iife of the multiethnic society between the world wars, when Bukovina was a part of the kingdom of Romania. The author’s worldview in this piece of writing has two determinants - the old Austrian heritage of the Danube monarchy ("spiritual background") and the South-European multiculturalism of Bukovinian tradition in its ethnic, lingual, religious diversity, mirrored in Rezzori's vocabulary and style, healthy irony and self-irony, humor and sarcasm, which permeate the whole book.

The article analyses possibilities for the Ukrainian diaspora potential application for lobbying the national interests, creation of positive image and the "soft power" of Ukraine. The ethnic lobbying is considered as an institution of the political system that represents a form of the interests intermediation, a type of communication in foreign policy, and the diaspora – as the foreign ethnic lobby, a group of influence, a participant of transnational networks that gains features of the political subject, becomes the non-state geopolitical actor. The article also analyses the worldwide and the Ukrainian best experience in the sphere of ethnic lobbying, the factors influencing the results of the diaspora lobby activities, its instruments, the critical and current problems of the Ukrainian diaspora. The article emphasises the necessity for positioning of the Ukrainian state as the main subject of diaspora policy, that forms and implements the long-term strategy of effective ethnic lobbying of the national interests. It also reveals the problems of regulatory, institutional and financial support of the Ukrainian diaspora policy, as well as specifies the ways how to deal with them.

Radziecki internacjonalizm jako forma realizacji komunistycznego projektu imperialnego na Ukrainie W książce znanego ukraińskiego dysydenta Iwana Dziuby Internacjonalizm czy rusykacja po raz pierwszy poddano kompleksowej analizie zjawisko radzieckiego internacjonalizmu, ukazując polityczne i etniczne podłoże tej koncepcji ideologicz-nej (dzisiaj w większości mitologizowanej) i polityki, jak również cel jej utworzenia i wdrożenia 1. Niestety, musimy stwierdzić, że dzisiaj na Ukrainie problemy podnie-sione przez ukraińskiego uczonego nie tylko nie straciły na znaczeniu, ale nawet stały się jeszcze bardziej aktualne. Ukraińska rewolucja narodowa w latach 1917–1921 była pierwszą w XX w. próbą odbudowania państwowości na ziemiach ukraińskich. Jednak w związku z uwarun-kowaniami geopolitycznymi i słabością sił narodowych (co zdaniem Richarda Pipesa było decydującym czynnikiem) niezawisłości i niepodzielności Ukrainy nie udało się obronić przed bolszewicką agresją wojenną. Ukraina weszła w skład ZSRR, którego ustrój opierał się na przemocy oraz na demagogii społecznej i narodowej. W kraju zaprowadzono totalitarny reżim komunistyczny, przyniesiony tu na rosyjskich bag-netach 2. Tak jak za czasów imperium rosyjskiego, Ukraińcy w ZSRR mieli status mniej-szości etnicznej. Mimo formalnych oznak państwowości (istnienie granic, symboli państwowych, organów władzy państwowej, odrębnej konstytucji itp.) w tym okresie Ukraińcy nawet na własnych terytoriach byli " podporządkowaną większością ". Przyjęty i rozpropagowany jako podstawa narodowego budownictwa w ZSRR, internacjonalizm stał się narzędziem i formą realizacji radzieckiego komunistyczne-go projektu imperialnego. Dzisiaj większość badaczy nazywa ZSRR imperium radzie-ckim, które w znacznej mierze odziedziczyło nie tylko terytorium byłego imperium