Understanding Territory and Sovereignty in Wartime Ukraine: A Longitudinal Cross-Survey Analysis
This project will build on Dr Howlett’s previous two John Fell Fund grants to investigate whether and how Ukrainians' attitudes towards their state’s territory and sovereignty have changed over the course of the war from Russia’s invasion of their country on 24 February 2022.
The grant will assist Dr Howlett, Professor Janina Dill (Blavatnik) and Dr Carl Müller-Crepon (LSE) in running the same survey experiment that they ran in Ukraine in July 2022.
The results from their July 2022 survey were published in the American Journal of Political Science last year.
This timely project seeks to uncover the public opinion of Ukrainian citizens regarding the political, security, and economic situation of their country amidst the ongoing war with Russia. In collaboration with the Ukraine-based non-governmental organisation and think tank, the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation (DIF), this study will examine Ukrainian public opinion since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.
In comparatively analysing the views of citizens living in different regions of Ukraine about their state’s territory and sovereignty, the project is immensely valuable for uncovering, documenting, and elevating the most current views of Ukrainian citizens, which have been noticeably absent from the international discourses around the war.
As questions about peace negotiations and possible territorial concessions to end the catastrophic conflict remain critical within policy circles, this research project will strategically aid both academics and policymakers in better understanding the current grassroots social and political dynamics in Ukraine.
The intrinsic value of this research project is hence that it can continue to aid both academics and policymakers globally better understand the Russia-Ukraine war, as well as possible scenarios for achieving a sustainable peace in the region in both the short- and long-term.
This survey project moreover opens opportunities for off-shoot research projects related to the war and conflict resolution, in addition to encouraging larger collaborations with scholars working on Ukraine and the larger former Soviet region, including those working in the region itself.