Escape from empire: Ukraine’s post-Soviet national awakening

The strengthening of Ukrainian national identity over the past three decades of independence is an important and under-explored historical phenomenon that has had repercussions far beyond Ukraine’s borders. It has transformed the political climate across much of the former Soviet world and helped fuel today’s Cold War-style climate of confrontation between Russia and the West.

From the very beginning, Ukraine’s post-Soviet nation-building journey has been defined by competition between rival narratives that have sought to place the country within the so-called Russian World or among the European community of nations. Ukrainian supporters of a Russia-friendly Eastern Slavic identity have always been able to count on powerful backing from Russia itself. Conversely, the Western world has never quite managed to make up its mind about Ukraine and has generally adopted a cautious approach.

Nevertheless, over the past thirty years, old imperial myths of eternal brotherhood with Russia have gradually fallen out of fashion among Ukrainian audiences and been replaced by an increasingly self-confident sense of European identity. The geopolitical implications of this trend have been profound and continue to reverberate throughout the region.