Ethnic Policy and National Resilience Under Conditions of War

Abstract

Authors made an attempt to link two actual concepts in political science – “ethnic policy" and "national resilience", in particular to reconsider their essence and changing trends under conditions of war. It is emphasized that a balanced ethnic policy could serve as one of the instruments for preserving the security, unity, and stability of society, even in the face of armed aggression. The article aims to propose a contemporary understanding of the problems and significance of ethnic policy as a factor in national resilience, as part of the security space, and at the same time, a historically grounded sphere of social life. At the same time, it turned out that the outlined tasks inevitably actualize the appeal to other areas of politics: memory politics, identity politics, politics of freedom of conscience, as well as politics in the educational, informational, cultural, social, economic and other spheres of society.

The methodological basis of the research is founded on the principles of objectivity, pluralism, and interdisciplinarity. The analysis of the current legal framework of Ukraine made it possible to comprehend the current and potential state strategies of ethnic policy in the context of war, while the analysis of sociological surveys helped to explore the resilience of society to current ethnic-political challenges, including armed aggression. The case study, the emphasis on the contemporary experience of ethnic-political changes in Ukraine is important both for defining the agenda of government policy and for the prospects of socio-political research of ethnicity in general.

Authors asserted that it is crucial to take into account the ethnic factor when unfolding strategies, programs and plans for the development of national, social and civic resilience, as well as the stability of democracy. Ethnic policy is transforming even under conditions of war and testifies to a certain accumulated resource of resilience of political elites and society as a whole. At the same time, ethnic policy requires institutionalization, clear security measures, inter-institutional cooperation, regional, national, and international relations, sustainable resource support, and stable development.