The Big Geopolitical Chessboard: How Not To Lose Ukraine in the Fourth World War

Ihor Zhdanov, Information Defence Project, Open Policy Foundation

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Centres of "soft power"

Ukraine is at the centre of a great geopolitical game, the external manifestation of which is the russian-Ukrainian war, or rather the Fourth World War, if the "Cold War" is considered to be the third one.

Several world geopolitical centres of influence ("soft power") have an impact on its course. Last week, the interests of these centres became clear in the information space, where one of the main topics was the discussion of the russian-Ukrainian peace agreement and Ukraine's territorial concessions.

Below we will try to analyse what interests each of the centres of influence has and how they are projected onto our country.

1. Ukraine and its closest allies Poland, the Baltic countries, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. During this war,Ukraine has become an international talking point. Thanks to the heroic actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and diplomacy, it has gained great respect on the international stage, while its strategic importance has magnified in significance.

Ukraine's national interest lies in the unconditional victory in the russian-Ukrainian war and in restoring the country's territorial integrity (including the Crimea and the Donbas). Ukrainians are ready to fight to the last person against Putin's russia.

There is a political and social consensus around such strategic goals of the war in our country. According to