Ukraine in the World. Studies in International Relations and Security Structure of a Newly Independent State
Edited by Lubomyr A. Hajda, Harvard. Get it from Amazon.com or Amazon.de.
 
The collection of articles, entitled Ukraine in the World, appeared as vol. 20 in the journal Harvard Ukrainian Studies, and as a separate title in the series Harvard Papers in Ukrainian Studies, both edited by Lubomyr A. Hajda.
 
Borys Tarasyuk, the Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs since April 1998, explained that the Ukraine's foreign policy began before the Ukrainian declaration of independence on August 24, 1991. In fact, it began immediately after the adoption of the state sovereignty on July 16, 1990, with an official visit to Hungary by a Ukrainian delegation, led by then Foreign Minister Anatoly Zlenko. In September 1990 followed the first visit of the president of a neighbouring country to the Ukraine - that of Hungarian President Göncz.
 
The former presidential National Security Adviser (1977-81), Zbigniew Brzezinski, today Counselor at the Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC, comes to the conclusion that Ukraine is well-established and here to stay. Its emergence on the political map is for Brzezinski comparable to the integration of Germany into the European Union. The Ukraine's existence significantly reduces Russia's power and thus makes it more manageable. It enhances the security of Poland, Romania and Turkey. The Ukraine's existence also changes the self-definition of Russia and the character of the CIS. Without the Ukraine, the CIS would "simply be another empire, with a new name". According to Brzezinski, the Ukraine has to bind itself through economic, political and military activities with Poland and through Poland with Germany. The country should become a Central European state and by doing so open the door for its long-term entry into the European Union. The stabilisation of the Ukraine's relation to Russia is essential, especially on the economic level but also through its collaboration with CIS-states that pursue a similar strategy to the one undertaken by the Ukraine. The Ukraine also has to "strive to become indirectly, perhaps someday directly, an increasingly integral part of the Euro-Atlantic community".
 
Roman Solchanyk of the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica points out that despite Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma's first visit to Russia in 1998, when the two states signed a long-term program of economic cooporation, problems remain. The Russian Duma refuses to ratify the treaty and to accept the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Stephen R Burant, editor of a State Department publication, examines the relations between the Ukraine and East Central Europe. He points out to problems between Romanian nationalists and the Ukraine regarding the treatment of the Romanian minority in the Ukraine, whereas the Ukraine achieved good relations with Poland and Hungary.
 
Other authors deal with the Ukraine's relations with the USA, Canada, the Middle East, Asia and Western Europe. "Ukraine has managed to develop from a potential risk factor into a European security asset. [... B]ut how and where Ukraine fits into the wider security framework in Europe, its precise role and position, remain to be determined" (Olga Alexandrova). Articles on the Ukraine's armed forces and military policy, on its place in European and regional security and on its denuclearization policy complete the collection in the series of Harvard Papers in Ukrainian Studies. What is missing are articles on the domestic situation of the Ukraine. Which are the main political forces of Ukraine? Do they have different concepts of foreign and security policy? The key to the development of the Ukraine's international relations lies in the evolution of its legal and economic framework. Where does president Kuchma want to go to? Which parliamentary forces support him? One cannot examine foreign and security policy without analyzing domestic political forces and policies. 
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Lubomyr A. Hajda, Hg.: Ukraine in the World. Studies in International Relations and Security Structure of a Newly Independent State, Harvard University Press, 1998, 362 S. Get it from Amazon.com or Amazon.de.
 
Have also a look at the Cosmopolis article on Between Russia and the West: Foreign and Security Policy of Independent Ukraine (by Kurt R. Spillmann et al., editors).