What is Nationalism in Ukraine?
The rise of nationalism in Eastern Europe, after the fall of the USSR, is not a new phenomenon, yet it is increasingly surprising (the protectionist policy of countries such as Poland and Hungary, the separation of Orthodox patriarchates between Ukraine & Russia, the policy of sanctions applied by Russia towards the EU that involves the reactivation of the famous made in Russia (сделано в России) formerly known as made in USSR (сделано в СССР), the fight for the Black Sea involving large capital investments in the naval fleet by both states in Odessa (Ukraine) and in the annexed Crimea (Russian «Federation«)). An endless number of pending events await future steps.
Briefly on the resurgence of nationalism in Ukraine – to put the reader in the historical-political context and be able to get to understand the current nationalism and the reality facing the country. The word ‘resurgence’ was not used by chance. We must shed light on the fact that patriotic nationalism has been cultivating its roots since the nineteenth century, but in the twentieth century it was oppressed and silenced. Almost everyone knows the faithful fighter and defendant of an independent Ukraine, Stepan Bandera. All this, unfortunately, was unknown until the Revolution of Dignity (2013-2014), denominated as Euromaidan, that unleashed the Donbass War, that is still taking place until now.
Since the Independence of Ukraine in 1991, the country has gone through two revolutions: The Orange Revolution (2004-2005) and the Revolution of Dignity (2013-2014). The fact is that almost everyone – including seniors and war veterans – was unaware about the revolution in Ukraine a year before the independence, which took place in 1990. This revolution was named the Revolution over the Granite, and it was characterized by starvation protests and starring young people with the sole objective: to end the Soviet present. It was one of the most important movements that laid the solid foundations to promote in the not so distant future what the Ukrainians call the Maidan (a phenomenon that represents the legitimate way to go out into the streets and protest against acts of central government). The last Maidan of 2014, once again, after a process of Soviet liberation, reflected the democratic intentions of the contemporary society. Therefore, this article is titled based on the new reality in Ukraine under the domain «what is nationalism?”.
Approximately, in the middle of this year, a new figure appeared on the political scene, recognized especially in Western Ukraine. Said candidate, is supported by the lowest class propagating «the new and modern right of Ukraine«. His name is Rustam Tashbaev. The following trend stands between the supporters of the nationalist ideology and self-dominates as one of the main opponents of the classical right held by the central government. It is important to emphasize those events, because with their campaign and the assemblies in the western regions and the «demagogic» discourse, the ideological foundations of the resistance and the creation of the method of struggle expanded very dynamically among the masses. In the words of Rustam Tashbayev, Ukrainian nationalism, represented by the right and supported by the oligarchy of the center-west, does not represent the truly national and patriotic values that Stepan Bandera formerly stood for and represented. From there, he proposes what he calls «the ideology of modern nationalism«, making it clear that until now, there are no economic models created as effective as the American one.
