European Security and Defense Policy: Strategic Aspects of Ukraine’s Cooperation with the EU

Abstract

The main objective of the study is to analyze the experience of the countries of the European Union in the implementation of defense and strategic management and the mechanisms of Ukraine’s integration into the European military system, which is extremely relevant at the current stage of the European integration of our country. The methodological tools of the research are the following ones: a systematic approach, which made it possible to gain a deeper understanding of the essence of interstate military communication; an interactional approach, which helped to analyze the interaction of the countries of the region through the prism of interests and expectations of interested structures. A normative-value method contributed to the understanding of the positive perception of the EU residents of military integration, and the formation of political values, as well as a structural-functional method showed the tools of informational support of European integration processes in the field of defense, as a single security system in the region. The methodological basis of the research formed works of domestic and foreign experts on the security situation in Europe, official EU documents, websites, and analytical notes of experts. The article examines the peculiarities of building and functioning of the regional security complex that has developed in Europe. The basis of this complex is strategic defense management. Particular attention is paid to the features of the internal self-organization of this security space, as well as to the factors of environmental influence on the dynamics of processes that ensure the security of the region. The current security situation, the influence of global players on the security of the region during the period of open military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine are analyzed. The authors emphasize various aspects of security that are characteristic of the modern global world. These include economic, information, social, and security in its classical military and political sense. The research focuses on the regional security complex as an analytical unit, which is a group of actors in international relations whose processes are so interconnected that they cannot be properly analyzed and studied separately from each other. The mechanisms of Ukraine’s integration into the EU security environment are analyzed. The reasons for the containment of Ukraine’s military integration are pointed out, and theoretical miscalculations of the European security system of the late 20th century are revealed. The analysis of the relations of the European regional security complex with third states and other security complexes allows us to identify the links between the security strategy and the issues of practical policy that dominate today.

Keywords

• European Union
• regional security complex
• integration
• strategic defense management
• security strategy of Ukraine