Open AccessUKRAINIAN FACTOR IN THE BOUNDARY SITUATION: THE EFFECT OF THE HYBRID WAR
Author(s) -
Tatiana Boyko
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
ukraïnoznavčij alʹmanah
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2520-2626
DOI - 10.17721/2520-2626/2018.23.2
Subject(s) - ukrainian , politics , political economy , context (archaeology) , government (linguistics) , independence (probability theory) , guerrilla warfare , political science , state (computer science) , aggression , sociology , law , history , psychology , philosophy , linguistics , statistics , mathematics , archaeology , algorithm , computer science , psychiatry
The author argues that the necessity to own Ukrainian territory has remained an important factor for the imperial power of Russia. During the independence period, Russia has exerted considerable humanitarian, political, and information pressure on Ukraine to keep it in the sphere of its own influence and to discredit it in the eyes of other states. The article analyzes the characteristic features of the new type of warfare - a so-called "hybrid war". This type of confrontation is typical of the post-industrial society. The author concludes that all instruments of the hybrid warfare - information weapon, participation in the competition of non-state actors, the use of terrorist methods, the use of methods for economic and psychological pressure and propaganda - were used by Russia against Ukraine. These circumstances brought Ukraine to the boundary situation. The humanitarian aggression is aimed at the continuation of the colonial dependence of Ukrainians, splitting Ukraine into regions. The "hybrid warfare" uses methods of the unofficial influence on the government of Ukraine, economic blackmail, and destruction of the country's positive image in the foreign-policy relations. Modern occupation models are based not only on military actions; they effectively use information space. The aggression is performed through the hostile propaganda, "war of ideas", and creation of simulacra in the context of fighting for human minds. Among the new methods of influence are cyber attacks, which threaten the systematic operation of many establishments. It is necessary to develop a strategy for liberation from the colonial dependence of Ukraine and establishing a Ukrainian-centered position. This factor could change our future as a political player. It is important to track threats in different spheres of life and develop means of contradiction - namely, protection of the Ukrainian language and our own information space; removal of oligarchs from power; defending national interests and preserving our independence.