Decolonising knowledge production about Ukraine: a security aspect

The article aims to identify some of the misrepresentations of Ukraine that originated in Russia and led to distorted perceptions of Ukraine in the English-speaking academia. Apart from that, the article aims to expose the reasons behind the emergence of such misrepresentations, the way to counter them, and the pitfalls of using them in security analysis. The article hypothesizes that the traditional colonial perception of Ukraine prevents Western scholars and policy-makers, whom these scholars consult, from adequately interpreting and securitizing the acuteness of the contemporary Russian threat. To complete the research, the article draws from decolonial and securitization theories. The article argues that the centuries-long othering and denial of agency of Ukraine, combined with the lack of specific expertise on the country and the colonial tradition of knowledge production, led to a comparatively inconsistent response of Western academia to the post-2014 Russian aggression against a sovereign nation. To address the existing inadequacy, Western scholars should become more open to the opinions of their Ukrainian colleagues, accept the merit of unconventional perspectives, and revise Russo-centrism in research frameworks and teaching curricula.