Ukraine: The ‘State to Nation’ Country?

This article presents the historical causes of Ukraine’s weak statehood and why it can be classified as a “state to nation” country. What considerably contributed to the “state to nation” character of Ukraine and the belated establishment of its state was the fact that it did not inherit a unified national identity; some of its territories were “more mature” in this regard, while the eastern regions that were under Russian rule for many centuries were “underdeveloped”. In this “deeply divided” Ukraine due to geopolitical differences, the western “pro-Europe” and eastern “pro-Russia” territories have always been separated. Even when an independent Ukraine was established, Ukrainian national identity was not yet fully developed, so the young Ukrainian state had to take up the task of “nation-building.