The book presents something new into Ukrainian intellectual life, because it is difficult to place in terms of any previous intellectual tradition of Ukraine. On the one hand, the author of the book belongs to the far-right groups of Ukraine (“Pravy Sektor”). On the other hand, the ideas presented here represent a criticism of the existing Ukrainian nationalist mainstream and its belligerent rhetoric towards other Eastern European nations, particularly Poland and Hungary. In the Polish language, it is possible to read his article that was published in 2016.
In some aspects, he is continuing in the philosophical tradition of Hawryło Kostelnyk, a Ukrainian Greek Catholic theologian and philosopher from Lwow who studied the philosophical, ideological and psychological aspects of the process of secularization. Zagrebelny revises this intellectual framework in light of contemporary realities and their implications for international relations in the European continent today. It is even possible to say that he examines the geopolitical situation in the European continent through philosophy. For Zagrebelny, the geopolitical transformation taking shape in the Intermarium region has a concretely philosophical dimension. Accepting the main feature of the Intermarium, he states that its future is still uncertain. However, the Intermarium is far from its embryonic stage, as it was a decade ago.
For Zagrebelny, the Intermarium as a geopolitical project was an answer to the current international challenges, namely:
The author accepts the civilizational, cultural and spiritual commonalities among the countries of the region, writing that these communalities are able to create the necessary regional-societal resilience of the Intermarium against such globalist and liberal ideologies as LGBT, Feminism, Cultural Marxism and Posthumanism. Zagrebelny defends the idea that the Intermarium is a chance for Ukraine to survive in a difficult geopolitical environment and a chance for the whole of Europe notably the leaders of the European “conservative renaissance” in Poland and Hungary, both of which have managed to oppose the above-mentioned challenges. Therefore, the author indicates that this is the only chance both for Ukraine and Europe to withstand all these challenges. That chance is crucial because until now, the conservative future has not been not clear. The biggest remaining hindrance, according to the author, is the number of contradictions existing among almost all the nations of the Intermarium. Local nationalism is the challenge that is much greater than the problems coming out of the Intermarium zone. However, Zagrebelny expresses that compared with Ukraine the countries in Central and Eastern Europe (the EU members) have achieved great successes in the building of a close community, whereas Ukraine almost missed its own chance to be a part of processes that are building the unique historical entity – the Intermarium.
The author mentions the meeting in Krynica in 2016, when Victor Orban and Jarosław Kaczyński met as part of a new European “counterrevolution” that was based on Christianity and Nation. The role of Donald Trump has a specific mission in the building of the Intermarium, owing to the fact that he has been outspoken in his support of the same ideas that have played such a key role in uniting the countries of Intermarium.
During the last five years, under the rule of Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine did almost nothing to be closer to the Intermarium project, the author states. He even sees that the liberal media in Ukraine were and still are striving to maintain the nationalistic grievances in the Ukrainian society regarding Poland and Hungary. At the same time, Zagrebelny emphasized that Ukrainian nationalists were against the European Union as a globalist project, but they were used against Yanukovich in 2014. The author realistically assesses the perspectives of Ukraine to join NATO and the EU, which are minimal in the current situation. In this position, it would be best to concentrate on domestic reforms and to become closer to the Intermarium. But here appears the biggest problem: relations with the two most crucial countries of the Intermarium project: Poland and Hungary. With regional states, he suggests economic and military cooperation (as an example he provides the Ukrainian-Lithuanian-Polish Brigade).
He honestly claims that the Intermarium as a topic is out of the media and intellectual Ukrainian mainstream. The foreign policy of Ukraine fully relies on a German-French tandem and it is wrong, he writes. For Poroshenko, there was not a place for the “alternative Europe” that shares neither Russian nor the globalist projects of the Western society. This position was maintained by left-liberal media that blocked active intellectual discussions about it.
Finally, the author goes through the painful historical chapters of analysis of relations between Poland and Ukraine (UPA, Wolyn massacre, etc.). He calls them “historical enemies”, whereas his vision is much more interesting than a mere historical examination of old grievances. Additionally, he tries to find consent or consensus that will eventually allow nations to be closer together. It should be noted that his explanations and justifications are not honest, especially in case of Polish-Ukrainian relations. It is feasible that the author belongs to nationalistic far-right groups, but is struggling hard to find a solution to the existing historical impasse.
Zagrebelny’s attempts are based upon his deep understanding that nationalism (in the case of left-liberal and Marxist groups) is only a tool in their dialectical battle against traditionalism. His last chapter is dedicated to an accurate analysis of the philosophical aspects of nationalism. Nationalism, he says, was a weapon against conservatism and still is. As an illustration, he gives illuminating examples of how contemporary political elites of Ukraine geniusly transformed the modern Ukrainian nationalism to the “liberal nationalism.”
Ukrainian liberals are claiming that the Ukrainian nationalists of the beginning of XX century would join the gay parades in Kiev, because they were fighting for human rights. Liberal nationalism is the quintessence of nationalism, feminism, LGBT movement etc. Things turned upside down for Ukrainian nationalists and this book is the evidence of accepting this fact.
Finally, after a journey through European international relations, the history of relations with Ukraine’s western neighbors, and a philosophical analysis of the current ones, the author comes to his main ideas. First, the idea of the nation of modernity still provides to European nations sources securing national identity and civilizational survival; Second, the ideas of nationalism have to be modified but definitely they should not be destroyed; Third, in order to create an amicable milieu for future regional cooperation between Poland and Ukraine, there have to be steps that eliminate the sharp edges of a sharded past. As a solution, he proposes the reformation of national mythologies of both nations. Concurrently, for him the future of the Intermarium is the unity of national states as a basis of this unity. The mission of the Intermarium in his final elucidations is a defense of Europe and its protection from the influences of globalism and left-liberal ideologies. Fourth, the future of the Intermarium lies amongst the young generation of the countries from this region that will someday build a new political elite.
Autor
Ridvan Bari Urcosta
Senior Analyst at Strategy&Future
Strategy&Future
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