PUBLIC SECTOR INSTITUTIONS OF FOREIGN POLICY EXPERTISE IN UKRAINE:AN ANALYTICAL OVERVIEW

Abstract

An important condition for the effective protection and implementation by Russia of its national interests in Ukraine is an understanding of the circle of actors that influence the development of Ukrainian foreign policy. Among them, there are expert institutions that provide analytical and scientific support for foreign policy decisions made by the highest bodies of state power. For- eign policy expertise in Ukraine is a grey area for Russian political science. The article opens a series of publications whose purpose is to solve this problem. It systematizes information about Ukrainian institutes of foreign policy expertise, those whose activities are directly or indirectly financed by the state. It was revealed that during the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych (2010– 2014), the public sector suffered significant structural damage, and its consequences have not yet been overcome. Today, Ukrainian public institutions of foreign policy expertise include: the National Institute for Strategic Studies, the Institute of World History of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and university think tanks. The author considers these organizations through the prism of constructivism and institutionalism — as political structures (institutions) whose activities affect the context of Ukrainian foreign policy and the behavior of its actors. It has been established that their main scientific and applied research interests are related to problems of national, regional and international security, Russian domestic politics, problems of information, as well as military and political confrontation with Russia. All these issues are considered by institutions exclusively through the prism of Euro-Atlanticism and anti-Russian political mythology. Since at least 2014, they have been transmitting ideas hostile to Russia to the Ukrainian political and academic elite. In the same vein, the political socialization of students is carried out, in which university think tanks actively work in close collaboration with state and non-governmental organizations of NATO member countries. Today, the public sector of foreign policy expertise in Ukraine is not in the best condition, but it invariably retains its analytical and scientific potential, as well as its tough anti-Russian position.