Content module №4 (Olha Vyhovska)

Theme 1. National, global and regional dimension of security.

         The first theme of the module will be devoted to the consideration of political aspects of national security in the context of contemporary international relations. Particular attention will be paid to the structural and functional characteristics and elements of national security as a factor of state and social development.The issues of the international dimension of national security will also be considered.

         Particular attention will be paid to the concept of the information component of national security and global security in general, the processes of globalization and integration of the concept of information security in the 21st century, the formation and implementation of information society theory and practice into life of the world and national communities.

         The peculiarities of the information component of the foreign policy of each state will be determined through the policy of international actors in the system of international relations. The processes taking place in the information sphere revolutionarily affect the structural changes of other spheres of functioning of humanity and states in general, namely political, economic, socio-cultural, military, environmental, etc. – and testify to the transition to a global knowledge society, the essence of which is the importance of the information component in international interaction.

         The third block will be devoted to the concept of geopolitical security: awareness of its content as a separate science and separate activity, knowledge of the laws of geopolitics, its subject and sources of formation, which make it possible to speak about geopolitical security as a separate phenomenon of modern national security being. Particular attention will be paid to the concept of environmental safety, which can be considered within global, regional, local boundaries and within states. Environmental security is a component of national security that protects the vital interests of a man, society, the environment and the state from the real or potential threats posed by anthropogenic or natural factors to the environment.

         Dealing with national, global and regional dimensions of security is an important component of the issue of military security, which is characterized by the possibility of ensuring the interests of national security by military means, which requires the presence of modern armed forces, the formation of a collective or general security system, joining certain military and political alliances.

Summarizing the first topic, let us focus on the notion of collective security and the system of its creation, which envisages the implementation of a set of political, economic, legal measures, as well as military-organizational measures aimed at resisting aggression. The key role in the system of creation will be played by Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).  Within the topic the basic institutions of this organization will be identified, the OSCE mission and main tasks will be investigated and the basic normative legal documents on the issue of collective security will be analyzed.       

Theme 2. EU political projects

The second theme of the content module will reveal political processes of the European Union, focusing on regional policy, highlighting the methods and mechanisms for its implementation.

Regional policy is at the heart of European solidarity, promoting economic growth and improving the quality of life through strategic investment. This tool directs the bulk of financial resources to help less developed countries and regions of the EU, which can thereby catch up with more developed regions, reducing the socio-economic and territorial disparities that still exist in the EU.

Regional policy is managed jointly by the European Commission, the EU Member States and their regions, which select EU-funded policy projects under programs agreed with the European Commission.

The EU offers its citizens an area of ​​freedom, security and justice without internal borders. The overall goal of political projects is to create a security union, which aims to increase security within the European Union. The EU and its Member States are working together to fight terrorism and brutal radicalization, serious crime, organized crime and cybercrime. The development of each project is a collective process involving stakeholders at European, national, regional and local levels, social partners and civil society. This form of partnership is applicable at all stages of project implementation – from idea formulation, management and implementation to monitoring and evaluation of its achievements.

The European Neighborhood Policy project provides the basis for a more effective and stronger partnership based on the common interests and activities of both parties. The main objectives of this policy are:

  • stabilization of neighbouring countries by dealing with economic development issues, providing employment opportunities for the population, in particular youth, ensuring transport and energy interconnections, sorting out migration, mobility and security problems;
      ● promoting key EU interests related to good governance, the spread of democracy, the rule of law and human rights;
  • promoting cooperation at regional level, for example through the Eastern Partnership and Mediterranean Union mechanisms.

The European Union has developed a joint policy project on migration and asylum policy to address many challenges posed by migration to the European Union, including the problems international security seekers face.

Particular attention will be given to the EU’s humanitarian policy as one of the major political projects of the European community. The EU responds to crisis situations through the European Commission’s Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), which provides rapid and effective EU assistance through two major instruments – humanitarian aid and civil protection. The EU is a leading donor of humanitarian aid during many crises, including the following forms of assistance:

  • emergency assistance to displaced persons in Syria and refugees in neighboring countries;
  • humanitarian assistance to refugees and internally displaced persons in Greece, Iraq, Turkey and Yemen;
  • rescue humanitarian operations in the most afflicted communities of South Sudan and Central African Republic;
  • support of communities in high-risk areas to maximize preventive measures and recovery. Each euro invested in preparation for a possible natural disaster saves up to seven Euros to be spent to deal with its effects.

Theme 3. Challenges to organizational values of the European Union.

The third block of the module contains analysis of the issues related to protection of post-war borders and the issues of their violation (legislative and political basis, ways of prevention), new methods of combating conflicts and hybrid wars in modern European peacekeeping activities.

Given the high capacity of information weapons to integrate with other traditional and technologically new types of military assets, the potential consequences of the uncontrolled use of multilayered executions may prove to be catastrophic for human existence. Therefore, only wide-ranging multilateral cooperation can guarantee world-wide solutions to new complex problems of the information age and ensure real international information security. It should be emphasized that the strategies of global information warfare are at the heart of the analytical development of the research institutions of different countries, the purpose of which is to provide information leadership in the field of international security.

The information factor of the doctrine of preventive diplomacy as a modern method of conflict resolution determines the possibility of preventive measures by international organizations, provided that objective, scientific, analytically reliable information is taken into account and a detailed study of political, economic and social trends in the world and regions that can lead to crisis situations. In terms of content and nature, preventive diplomacy measures are divided into political, economic, diplomatic, military and humanitarian.

The political measures of preventive diplomacy will be definitely analyzed:

  • clarifying one-sided and multilateral interests through information exchange and negotiations;
  • objective coverage of the essence of conflicts and crisis problems by the mass media;
  • creating the conditions for professional activities of MM in the tension zones to provide reliable information to the international community and to formulate a relevant world opinion;
  • informational support of political (referenda) and election processes, conducting analytical monitoring on observance of fundamental human rights and freedoms;
  • information contacts with opposition groups, non-governmental organizations in order to effectively reach consensus between the parties of the conflict.

Theme 4. Public relations as a strategic toolkit.

            The purpose of Unit № 4 is to clarify the main PR strategies and tools for promoting European culture in Ukraine. The methodology of the research is the comprehensive application of analytical, sociological and comparative methods for exploring the strategic directions of the country’s image in order to promote intercultural relations.

As a result of the studied module, it will be established that in modern integration phenomena of state ideas and national cultures the dynamics of activity growth of cultural centers as one of the parts of the global public communication space is observed. Competitive activity encourages cultural organizations to use PR strategies to build their image, as well as to use PR tools in their cultural and educational activities. The European experience in building communications shows that those countries that have pursued a coherent and prudent cultural policy have become a prime example of rapid growth to the level of highly developed countries.