Conceptualization of Ukraine's Foreign Policy Choice as a Marker of Democratization

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to conceptualize foreign policy choice as one of the markers of the democratization of political institutions in Ukraine. Special attention is focused on the connection between the democratization of political institutions and Ukraine's foreign policy choice. The choice between democracy and authoritarianism is not only a matter of internal transformation. It covers the foreign policy space as well. Ukraine has chosen the path of European and Euro-Atlantic integration. The implementation of this foreign policy choice requires the activation of democratization processes and the expansion of the space for individual freedom of choice. For this reason, the values of freedom of speech and individual rights are noted among the determinants of Ukraine's democratic foreign policy choice. The implementation of the democratic foreign policy choice made by the Ukrainian political class is impossible without effective institutions: free mass media, electoral contests, and parliamentarism. All of them should contribute to political and economic competition and the creation and strengthening of the middle class, which, in fact, should make a democratic political choice. The research used an interdisciplinary approach, which made it possible to determine the differences between existential and marketing choices, between everyday and political choices and substantiate the presence of political, legal, economic, and communicative dimensions of foreign policy choice. The importance of historical prerequisites for foreign policy choice is substantiated.