MODERN DETERMINANTS OF UKRAINIAN GEOPOLITICAL SPACE: NATIONAL AND EUROPEAN ASPECTS
Authors: Kuzyshyn Andrii 
Published: June 2022

Objective determinants of geopolitical space of Ukraine are characterised, which at the present stage is manifested from geospatial position in economic, ideological, information- cybernetic and sociopolitical dimensions. Accordingly, appropriate characteristics and typical features of analysis are proposed for each of these directions. Thanks to them there is a possibility of multilateral consideration of those determinants which define today a place of the Ukrainian space on the European geopolitical arena.

Philosophical methods (in particular, principles of interdependence, interrelation, causality), comparative-geographical and comparative-historical methods as well as method of system analysis and content analysis were used to observe features of clarity, effectiveness and validity of research results.

The article analyzes organizational arrangements and institutional mechanisms of implementation of European integration policy of Ukraine, defines the intermediary role of the European Union countries in this policy, and studies the influence of the European vector on structural changes of economic, social and political environment of Ukraine. The attention is focused on the place of Ukraine in the geopolitical concept of the leading countries of the world. The features of internal geopolitical situation formation in the context of large related macro-regions are reflected in detail. In each of the macro-regions some specific mental and behavioral features that determine its uniqueness, but not isolation, are pointed out. The features of territorial and political consolidation of the state at the present stage are defined. The modern determinants of economic nature on the immediate prospects of development of the national economy are highlighted. The role of information component in the formation of geopolitical features of space as a source of influence and popularization of certain behavioral content is noted. Indicators of electoral sympathies, which embody certain ideological and social preferences of the population, were used to assess the socio-political determinant. The impact of recent political events in Ukraine, in particular, the results of the parliamentary elections, on the strengthening of the country's European policy and overcoming the dependencies caused by geopolitical factors is monitored.

The determinants of the geopolitical space of Ukraine should be assessed from the standpoint of considering the so-called internal and external conditions. Domestic determinants are determined along with the morphology of the territory, political and cultural unity of the country, its retrospective review, consistency and efficiency of public administration, natural resource and economic potential and features of socio-economic development, features of militarization, experience of national diplomacy and more. The external determinants of the national geopolitical space include the influence of foreign states and their union formations, the nature and relationship of political and economic processes in the world and in the region to which it belongs geographically, the validity of transit flows, threats of armed conflict and other negative challenges.

Based on the priority task of considering the geopolitical space of Ukraine, we note its importance, referring to world geopolitical concepts (F. Fukuyama, S. Huntington, Z. Brzezinski), which emphasize the role of our state as a promising geopolitical player, which should be part of influential economic security supranational structures. At the intra-regional level, the perception of Ukraine's geolocation is largely correlated with linguistic, ethnic, religious and other identifying features, but in contrast to the significant number of historical, socio-cultural and economic components that influenced the implementation of systemic domestic geopolitics. Therefore, the issue of territorial and political consolidation, although raised, was not systemic, and therefore requires the development of a strategy for the development of the state on ideological grounds as a nation-state of the European type with minimization of cultural and civilizational contrasts in the regional space. The economic determinant is emphasized by the possibility of rethinking the status quo (the energy intensity of space needed to reproduce society and the consumer type of functioning of the corporation, both global and transnational) and the possibility of using the chance to build a national economy (postwar recovery) based on progressive European experience. Information and cyber determinants of geopolitical space are determined by the scale and direction of the military-political and socio-economic situation, the goals of state policy of national security, social and economic structures involved in information warfare. Socio-political determinants of the geopolitical space of Ukraine are reflected in the results of the electoral commitment of voters, who thus embodied a certain ideological content. Based on the definition of these determinants, a strategy of geopolitical space should be developed on the basis of a nationally oriented state.

Keywords: geopolitical space, national manifestations of geopolitics, determinants, geopolitical factors, economic factors, sociopolitical factors, information-cybernetic factors.