Ukrainian sovereignism now is the only mature position.
At least because it’s becoming awkward to keep pretending that somewhere in Washington, Brussels, Berlin, or elsewhere, there is a wise elder brother who knows exactly how we (and they) should live, what to build, and which decisions are right for us (and in general). There is no elder brother. Not in the USA, nor in Europe. There are states, elites, bureaucracies, elections, lobbyists, their own crises, fears, interests, and internal squabbles. And in this structure, Ukraine is an important element for them, but it is still an external plot, not the center of the universe. There is a crisis everywhere, and it is a consequence of policies implemented for various reasons mentioned above.
I am not saying that we need a kind of rural shamanism about a “special path,” self-sufficient genius out of thin air, and the thesis that all Western ideas, institutions, and practices are wrong simply because they are Western. That is the infantile reaction of an offended provincial who, disappointed with an idol, decides to declare that books, science, and electricity are also unnecessary.
Israel did not copy the Pentagon; there wasn’t much to copy at that time. Israel created a security system tailored to its geography and threats. Singapore did not become Britain 2.0; it simply took British common law and integrated it into an authoritarian development model that delivered results. Estonia did not wait for Brussels to tell it how to build a digital state. Estonia took the initiative and did it themselves, becoming a benchmark in many aspects. And even there, they still have a lot of their own problems.
And it’s not as if we have some sacred knowledge, just as neither Israel, Singapore, nor Estonia did. We simply wish to survive.
“The grass is greener on the other side” no longer works. There is nuance everywhere. Except in Monaco. But even there, there’s drama. You bought a scenic apartment on the first line, looked out the window, and saw the water. But the Monaco kingdom needed money, and a new residential complex was built on a man-made peninsula in front of your house. It’s now the first line, and yours is the second. And instead of gazing at the sea, you look at Roger Federer in his bathrobe. Don’t like it? Call Sportloto and head back to your backwoods.
I am saying directly that sovereignism is not about denying foreign experience. Sovereignism is the right and ability to choose the best for oneself without religious worship and without colonial mimicry. Like how we planted with the IMF in Egypt, there’s nuance everywhere.
That means looking at the experience of Western partners calmly and rationally: this works, so we take it; this works for them but won’t succeed here without adaptation, so we rework it; this doesn’t suit us at all in the current historical, social, and military context, so we set it aside without guilt and without trying to appeal to the latest external observer.
Because a mature country is different from an immature one not by shouting about national exclusivity, but by being able to learn without imitation, collaborate without subordination, and borrow without losing freedom. A mature country, like a mature person, simply understands what it needs.
It’s time for Ukraine to finally exit the psychological model where an external adult exists somewhere who will either save, evaluate, or certify our correctness, who definitely doesn’t wipe their hands on the curtain and doesn’t extinguish cigarettes on the tongue because they are adult. No one will certify us. No one will build working institutions for us in our context. No one will live through this war, this transformation, and this historical exam for us.
Therefore, Ukrainian sovereignism is a concept not about hysteria nor about provincialism. It’s political maturation.
A wise Ukrainian does not say “everything Western is bad,” but also does not say that “the West should invent our future for us.”
A wise (ordinary) Ukrainian says a simple thing. We take the best, understand the cost of each decision, consider the Ukrainian context, and build our state as a subject, not as an eternal junior partner on probation. Some poet said something about this, I just can’t recall who.
Therefore, we are somewhere between “a nation whose truth’s will has not yet been conquered by anyone” and “learn your own and don’t shy away from others’.”
