Non-bloc status in Ukraine’s security policy – a forgotten concept?

Abstract

The article provides an in-depth analysis of Ukraine’s security policy in the early years of its independence. The author explains what the title idea of “non-bloc status” is and characterizes the broader international context of Ukrainian security policy. The research is conducted on the basis of the theory of neoclassical realism, which assumes the primacy of the international system and at the same time pays attention to factors within the state that affect its foreign activity, such as the issue of perception of the international environment by decision-makers. The subject of the study is both the elements of the concept of non-bloc policy and its practical implementation. The topicality of the studied issue and its presence in the political discourse in regard to the current war in Ukraine is shown. The consideration of the option of “Finlandization” of Ukraine and criticism of the failure of the 1994 Budapest Memorandum indicate that the assumptions of Ukraine’s security policy from the early 1990s have relevance today and may prove useful in the process of searching for a peaceful solution ending Russia’s war with Ukraine.