Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Political and Nationalities’ Studies, Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Penned a few books and many articles on civil society, state/nation building, nationalism, national identity, and postcommunist transition in Eastern Europe
Ukraine denial is the root cause of Putin’s genocidal war. Since he is unwilling
and unable to ab... more Ukraine denial is the root cause of Putin’s genocidal war. Since he is unwilling and unable to abandon this ideological obsession, talk of negotiations by western ‘peacemakers’ looks like an attempt to avoid responsibility.
Russia’s spectacular failure to achieve its declared goals on the first days, weeks and eventuall... more Russia’s spectacular failure to achieve its declared goals on the first days, weeks and eventually months of the all-out military invasion of Ukraine was attributed primarily to Moscow’s miscalculation: a profoundly wrong assessment of both its own strength and Ukraine’s weakness. Experts generally agree that the blunder was determined by two intertwined factors: the rigidity of Putin’s authoritarian system that frustrates the effective flow of information, especially if that information is unflattering for the bosses; and secondly, Russians’ fundamentally biased, ideologically distorted view of themselves and — especially — of Ukraine that precludes an adequate response to the situation on the ground.
LISD Working Paper #3 (Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, Princeton University), 2022
Ukraine’s resilience in the first months of Russian aggression came as a great surprise to both i... more Ukraine’s resilience in the first months of Russian aggression came as a great surprise to both its Moscow adversaries and Western partners. Very few experts expected Ukraine to withstand the all-out military assault of the alleged second-best army in the world, and virtually no one believed that it would be able to fight back. An overblown image of Russian strength and military prowess may be one reason for this, but probably more significant was a protracted neglect and depreciation of Ukraine in both Western media and political circles. All of a sudden, it appeared that neither the state—broadly described as weak, corrupt, and dysfunctional—collapsed under the tremendous military assault, nor the society—broadly stereotyped as divided, conflicted, and arguably balancing at the verge of a civil war—broke down for the proverbial two parts. One may presume either that some negative features and tendencies of Ukraine’s development were exaggerated or that some positive tendencies were neglected, undermined, or both. To elucidate the issue, I proceed in three steps. First, I outline briefly the real curses that plagued the Ukrainian state and society after the fall of communism and provide some reasons for international skepticism in regard to the newborn country. Second, I argue that very important and mostly positive (although incoherent and sluggish) changes had occurred in Ukraine in the past 30 years, so that the Russian aggression neither established any new patterns for Ukraine’s development, nor shifted the country into a new direction, but rather accelerated the prior processes and solidified the existing tendencies. Third, I examine the ongoing civic mobilization in Ukraine as a way of accumulating social capital that may play a crucial role in Ukraine’s postwar reconstruction and modernization.
The sheer number and scale of the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Russian... more The sheer number and scale of the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Russian military in Ukraine since the beginning of their all-out invasion, has prompted many experts and politicians to define this brutality as a genocide and seek for the prosecution of perpetrators under international law. The lawyers are cautious in this regard, however, maintaining that crucial element of the criminal case-the clear-cut proof of a genocidal intent on the side of the Russian leadership-might be missing or largely unprovable in the court. This article provides an overview of the ongoing debate on the alleged Russian genocide in Ukraine and argues that the Kremlin's genocidal intent can be proved if the anti-Ukrainian rhetoric of Russian officials, pundits, and propagandists is systemically scrutinized, deconstructed, and contextualized.
Suslov, M., Čejka, M., Ðorđević, V. (eds) Pan-Slavism and Slavophilia in Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham., 2023
The chapter examines the residual forms of Slavophilism in Ukraine that survived both the end of ... more The chapter examines the residual forms of Slavophilism in Ukraine that survived both the end of the Soviet Union and the radical break in Ukrainian-Russian 'special' relations. The key hypothesis is that ambivalence and ambiguity were its inborn, genealogical features inasmuch as Ukrainian Slavophilism emerged within the framework of the all-Russian Slavophile movement that indicated both the adoption of Herder's ideas and a semi-peripheral reaction to European modernity. Like any nativists, Ukrainian Slavophiles needed to be strongly committed to all things local and 'traditional' and hostile to all things arguably alien and imposed by foreigners. And yet, as nationalists striving for Ukraine's national emancipation from the empire, they simply could not afford to be anti-Western, as they needed the West both symbolically and politically in order to withstand Russian pressure and dominance. They had to accept Western values and norms, even if rather lukewarmly and ambiguously, 'by default'.
Ukraine denial is the root cause of Putin’s genocidal war. Since he is unwilling
and unable to ab... more Ukraine denial is the root cause of Putin’s genocidal war. Since he is unwilling and unable to abandon this ideological obsession, talk of negotiations by western ‘peacemakers’ looks like an attempt to avoid responsibility.
Russia’s spectacular failure to achieve its declared goals on the first days, weeks and eventuall... more Russia’s spectacular failure to achieve its declared goals on the first days, weeks and eventually months of the all-out military invasion of Ukraine was attributed primarily to Moscow’s miscalculation: a profoundly wrong assessment of both its own strength and Ukraine’s weakness. Experts generally agree that the blunder was determined by two intertwined factors: the rigidity of Putin’s authoritarian system that frustrates the effective flow of information, especially if that information is unflattering for the bosses; and secondly, Russians’ fundamentally biased, ideologically distorted view of themselves and — especially — of Ukraine that precludes an adequate response to the situation on the ground.
LISD Working Paper #3 (Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, Princeton University), 2022
Ukraine’s resilience in the first months of Russian aggression came as a great surprise to both i... more Ukraine’s resilience in the first months of Russian aggression came as a great surprise to both its Moscow adversaries and Western partners. Very few experts expected Ukraine to withstand the all-out military assault of the alleged second-best army in the world, and virtually no one believed that it would be able to fight back. An overblown image of Russian strength and military prowess may be one reason for this, but probably more significant was a protracted neglect and depreciation of Ukraine in both Western media and political circles. All of a sudden, it appeared that neither the state—broadly described as weak, corrupt, and dysfunctional—collapsed under the tremendous military assault, nor the society—broadly stereotyped as divided, conflicted, and arguably balancing at the verge of a civil war—broke down for the proverbial two parts. One may presume either that some negative features and tendencies of Ukraine’s development were exaggerated or that some positive tendencies were neglected, undermined, or both. To elucidate the issue, I proceed in three steps. First, I outline briefly the real curses that plagued the Ukrainian state and society after the fall of communism and provide some reasons for international skepticism in regard to the newborn country. Second, I argue that very important and mostly positive (although incoherent and sluggish) changes had occurred in Ukraine in the past 30 years, so that the Russian aggression neither established any new patterns for Ukraine’s development, nor shifted the country into a new direction, but rather accelerated the prior processes and solidified the existing tendencies. Third, I examine the ongoing civic mobilization in Ukraine as a way of accumulating social capital that may play a crucial role in Ukraine’s postwar reconstruction and modernization.
The sheer number and scale of the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Russian... more The sheer number and scale of the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Russian military in Ukraine since the beginning of their all-out invasion, has prompted many experts and politicians to define this brutality as a genocide and seek for the prosecution of perpetrators under international law. The lawyers are cautious in this regard, however, maintaining that crucial element of the criminal case-the clear-cut proof of a genocidal intent on the side of the Russian leadership-might be missing or largely unprovable in the court. This article provides an overview of the ongoing debate on the alleged Russian genocide in Ukraine and argues that the Kremlin's genocidal intent can be proved if the anti-Ukrainian rhetoric of Russian officials, pundits, and propagandists is systemically scrutinized, deconstructed, and contextualized.
Suslov, M., Čejka, M., Ðorđević, V. (eds) Pan-Slavism and Slavophilia in Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham., 2023
The chapter examines the residual forms of Slavophilism in Ukraine that survived both the end of ... more The chapter examines the residual forms of Slavophilism in Ukraine that survived both the end of the Soviet Union and the radical break in Ukrainian-Russian 'special' relations. The key hypothesis is that ambivalence and ambiguity were its inborn, genealogical features inasmuch as Ukrainian Slavophilism emerged within the framework of the all-Russian Slavophile movement that indicated both the adoption of Herder's ideas and a semi-peripheral reaction to European modernity. Like any nativists, Ukrainian Slavophiles needed to be strongly committed to all things local and 'traditional' and hostile to all things arguably alien and imposed by foreigners. And yet, as nationalists striving for Ukraine's national emancipation from the empire, they simply could not afford to be anti-Western, as they needed the West both symbolically and politically in order to withstand Russian pressure and dominance. They had to accept Western values and norms, even if rather lukewarmly and ambiguously, 'by default'.
The book is based on the author's recurrent guest lectures at the U. of Warsaw delivered througho... more The book is based on the author's recurrent guest lectures at the U. of Warsaw delivered throughout the past decade. It examines political processes in Eastern Europe after the fall of the communist system and collapse of the Soviet empire in 1989-1991. It explores both the structural factors that determined very different development of postcommunist states and the role of domestic and international actors that influenced the direction and speed and scope of postcommunist transformations. While the author keeps all the East Europe in mind, the main focus is on the post-Soviet part of the Eastern Europe, specifically on Ukraine as the most complicated, ambivalent, and graphical case of both the decommunization and decolonization. The process tracing is combined in the study with political analysis of historical developments in the postcommunist Eastern Europe drawn primarily on the theories of hybrid regimes, illiberal democracies, path-dependence and revolutionary breakthroughs.
A collection of essays that reflects the personal experience of a Ukrainian intellectual engaged,... more A collection of essays that reflects the personal experience of a Ukrainian intellectual engaged, since his Soviet-time youth, in a painstaking but fascinating process of the both cultural and political ‘Europeanization’ of his country. The title refers, ironically, to the notorious Chancellor Metternich’s quip that Asia presumably begins at the eastern fence of his garden (or, as another apocryphal version maintains, at the eastern end of the Viennese Landstrasse). This is a story of both exclusion and inclusion, of walls and fences, but also of a longing for freedom and a quest for solidarity. It is a book on different ways of being a ‘European’—at both the collective and individual level,—despite various challenges or, perhaps, thanks to them.
“Riabchuk offers thoughtful and illuminating reflections on Ukraine’s complex political circumstances within contemporary Eastern Europe and on the ideological significance of Europe for recent Ukrainian history. His essays are exceptionally important for understanding the culture and politics of post-Soviet Ukraine over the course of the last generation.” Larry Wolf, Silver Professor of History, New York University
Collection of essays that discusses in three chapters (a) Ukrainian politics since Euromaidan, (b... more Collection of essays that discusses in three chapters (a) Ukrainian politics since Euromaidan, (b) Polish-Ukrainian relations, and (c) national identity issues. A separate chapter, "In memoriam," is dedicated to author's close friends and active participants of Ukrainian cultural life –James Mace, Oleh Lusheha, Hryhoriy Chubay, Oleksandr Hrytsenko and Bohdan Turetsky.
Collection of essays on the history and current state of Ukrainian nation building and identity c... more Collection of essays on the history and current state of Ukrainian nation building and identity construction.
Ukraine’s postcommunist/postcolonial development represents a highly ambiguous case largely deter... more Ukraine’s postcommunist/postcolonial development represents a highly ambiguous case largely determined by the country’s peculiar regional composition and the very different historical (political, social and cultural) experiences of each region. Ukraine is probably the only postcommunist nation where all three types of colonization may be discerned. Whereas the western part of the country had already acquired a strong national identity by the time of the Soviet occupation and therefore never internalized the feeling of cultural inferiority vis-à-vis the occupiers, southeast Ukraine represents the opposite case as a no-man’s-land that experienced settler colonization under imperial auspices. The centre, however, differs from both the west and the southeast because it experienced a dynastic type of colonization with its own peculiarities starting in the 18th century. All of this has given rise to today’s complex interactions of different identities and nationalisms, primarily of the ‘aboriginal’ and ‘Creole’ types, which inhere in different models of cultural development: postcolonial, anti-colonial, and neo-colonial. The paper examines the interactions of the respective discourses in the cultural and political fields as related specifically to identity issues and culture and language policies.
Книга містить статті колег та учнів Лариси Нагорної, яка є
однією з основоположниць сучасної етн... more Книга містить статті колег та учнів Лариси Нагорної, яка є однією з основоположниць сучасної етнополітології. Розглядаються актуальні проблеми історичної пам’яті, теоретичні та прикладні виміри, її феноменологічні та структурні особливості. Висвітлюються важливі аспекти суспільних та політичних трансформацій, тенденції розвитку політичної системи та політичних дискурсів сучасної України. У збірнику також представлені дослідження проблем української етнополітики . Книга розрахована на фахівців, а також на широкий читацький загал.
Review of the book: Along Ukraine’s River: A Social and Environmental History of the Dnipro, by R... more Review of the book: Along Ukraine’s River: A Social and Environmental History of the Dnipro, by Roman Adrian Cybriwsky. Central European University Press, 2018, 237 p.
Review article on Nelly Bekus. Struggle over Identity. The Official and the Alternative “Belarusi... more Review article on Nelly Bekus. Struggle over Identity. The Official and the Alternative “Belarusianness”. -- Budapest & New York: CEU Press, 2010; 306 p.
Review of Nelly Bekus. Struggle over Identity. The Official and the Alternative “Belarusianness”.... more Review of Nelly Bekus. Struggle over Identity. The Official and the Alternative “Belarusianness”. - Budapest & New York: CEU Press, 2010; 306 p.
Review of David R. Marples, Frederick V. Mills (eds.), Ukraine’s Euromaidan.
Analyses of a Civil ... more Review of David R. Marples, Frederick V. Mills (eds.), Ukraine’s Euromaidan. Analyses of a Civil Revolution. Stuttgart: ibidem, 2015. 292 p.
Review of Oliver Schmidtke and Serhy Yekelchyk, eds. Europe’s Last Frontier? Belarus, Moldova, an... more Review of Oliver Schmidtke and Serhy Yekelchyk, eds. Europe’s Last Frontier? Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine Between Russia and the European Union. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. 268 pp. $79.95, cloth. Published in Canadian Slavonic Papers/Revue canadienne des slavistes Vol. LI, No. 4, December 2009.
Review article on Tatiana Zhurzhenko's Borderlands into Bordered Lands. Geopolitics of Identity i... more Review article on Tatiana Zhurzhenko's Borderlands into Bordered Lands. Geopolitics of Identity in Post-Soviet Ukraine. Stuttgart: ibidem Verlag, 2010. 321 p.
Western scolars criticize Ukraine for its selective national memory policies. Moscow demonizes Uk... more Western scolars criticize Ukraine for its selective national memory policies. Moscow demonizes Ukrainian national liberation groups like OUN and UPA. Ukraine has the difficult task to be open on war crimes while fighting a Soviet narrative that supports outright Russian agression, says Ukrainian political scientist Mykola Riabchuk. His answer to the German researcher Andreas Umland: criticize, but don't generalize.
Ми, громадські та правозахисні організації, журналісти, активісти, студенти, наукові співробітник... more Ми, громадські та правозахисні організації, журналісти, активісти, студенти, наукові співробітники, дослідники-занепокоєні наявністю на Євромайдані дискримінаційної риторики, яка лунає в промовах спікерів, під час звернень зі сцени. Прикро констатувати той факт, що ресурс "вільного мікрофону", який дає змогу висловлюватись усім, хто має що сказати-подекуди перетворюється на ефективний інструмент поширення "мови ворожнечі" ("hate speech") до мирних протестувальників. Наведемо лише декілька прикладів: в перші дні Євромайдану, українська блогерка та активістка-Олена Білозерська говорила про "вибіркову толерантність"; 23 листопада "вільний мікрофон" був наданий виступаючій Діані Камлюк, котра зверталась до громадян на площі з антисемітськими та расистськими гаслами. Мова ненависті може призвести до зростання агресії серед учасників протесту і навіть до проявів насилля, що стане на заваді цілей майдану. Так, 4 грудня на активістів Конфедерації Вільних Профспілок України було скоєно напад (тілесні ушкодження та псування майна), передумовою до нападу стала публічна заява виступаючого на сцені майдану, котрий назвав активістів "провокаторами" та дезінформував протестувальників, вказавши на наявність у останніх партійної символіки. Люди, які виступають на майдані за європейський вибір, представляють різні етноси, національності, мови, релігії, сексуальную орієнтацію та стать, соціальні стани та переконання, і тому публічна риторика Майдану має поважати права кожного заради об'єднання зусиль усіх учасників мирного протесту. Але сьогодні Майдан стає небезпечним для тих груп населення, в бік яких лунають дискримінаційні вислови та гасла. Ми просимо організаційний комітет Євромайдану виробити рекомендації для публічних виступів зі сцени, про які періодично має нагадувати ведучий і відповідно реагувати (робити зауваження) або вже не давати мікрофон таким промовцям.Учасники Євромайдану-різні! Але всі вони обирають європейські цінності і бажають Україні процвітання в сім'ї вільних, демократичних європейських народів.
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and unable to abandon this ideological obsession, talk of negotiations by western ‘peacemakers’ looks like an attempt to avoid responsibility.
and unable to abandon this ideological obsession, talk of negotiations by western ‘peacemakers’ looks like an attempt to avoid responsibility.
“Riabchuk offers thoughtful and illuminating reflections on Ukraine’s complex political circumstances within contemporary Eastern Europe and on the ideological significance of Europe for recent Ukrainian history. His essays are exceptionally important for understanding the culture and politics of post-Soviet Ukraine over the course of the last generation.”
Larry Wolf, Silver Professor of History, New York University
однією з основоположниць сучасної етнополітології. Розглядаються актуальні проблеми історичної пам’яті, теоретичні та прикладні виміри, її феноменологічні та структурні особливості. Висвітлюються важливі аспекти суспільних та політичних трансформацій, тенденції розвитку політичної системи та політичних дискурсів сучасної України. У збірнику також представлені дослідження проблем української етнополітики .
Книга розрахована на фахівців, а також на широкий читацький загал.
Analyses of a Civil Revolution. Stuttgart: ibidem, 2015. 292 p.
Published in Canadian Slavonic Papers/Revue canadienne des slavistes Vol. LI, No. 4, December 2009.