Between "East" and "West": Naitonal Development Strategies of the Slavic Brothers, Ukraine and Belarus
In the post-Soviet era, one of the most controversial issues that former Soviet member states were faced with was finding the new identity of the ...
Between "East" and "West": Naitonal Development Strategies of the Slavic Brothers, Ukraine and Belarus
In the post-Soviet era, one of the most controversial issues that former Soviet member states were faced with was finding the new identity of their own. Among the states that had been previously incorporated into the Soviet Union, Belarus and Ukraine are particularly noteworthy in terms of their efforts to rebuild national identity. The future steps that these two states will take can prove to be critical variables that will determine the fate of Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States(CIS). In other words, national development strategies that Belarus and Ukraine will choose as they struggle to balance between Russia and Europe may tip the scale in the dynamics between the two contending forces. Belarus and Ukraine share a close tie with Russia and these three states were considered as the three pillars of the Soviet Union. Ironically, however, the two countries have taken two different approaches to attain the same goal of reshaping their identity, and they are currently implementing different national development strategies as well.
Ever since they were declared an independent country in 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed, Belarus and Ukraine have devised and carried out a series of policies intended to build national identity for a new era. As mentioned earlier, two countries have shown clear differences in the way they strived to achieve such goal. There is a stark contrast between the two nations in who are playing a leading role in reshaping national identity, what they demand, how the government is dealing with the issue and how the people are responding to it. This project intends to find out the characteristics of national strategies that are taking shape in Ukraine and Belarus and to identify challenges facing them.
This project focused on the following aspects. Firstly, as for diplomatic field, this project investigates how Ukraine and Belarus establish the relations with outer world to secure their sovereignty and territory, and increase the national interest, while in affliction between the East and the West, and that what foreign strategies they adopt, considering various diplomatic options given to either the countries. As for political field, it is grasped what have been the patterns of political system in both countries, and the generality and specialty of their political environment through the diachronic analysis of the power change progressed with the changes in the relevant domestic and foreign policies since becoming independent in 1991. Besides, this project also pays attention to what domestic decision-making factors are for both administrations, between the East and West, to have to adopt national development strategies. As for economic field, this project analyzes what economy-opening strategy they have pursued while confronting a dilemma between the economic independency and dependency on Russia and the West. At the same time, this project attemptes to predict whether they would join CIS Economy Block or EU. As for social-cultural field, it would be investigated what are the contents of the national identity of Ukraine and Belarus, and how it would affect their national development strategies. Especially, this project attemps to examine how the recovery of their national identity, which has been led by both of the governments, has been progressed, such as the creation of myth, the re-description of their history and the construction of a new nation. Also the project focuses on how the identity of Ukraine and Belarus has been established in a new way.