SIGNS OF STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP: THE CASE OF UKRAINE AND THE USA

Abstract

The article provides a comprehensive analysis of the foreign policy dimensions of strategic partnership signs, using the case of Ukraine and the United States as an example. It highlights the lack of consensus and scientifically developed foundations for defining certain actors as “strategic partners”, as well as challenges in formulating and prioritizing specific signs within the paradigm of strategic partnership in political science research.The methodological framework of the study incorporates political linguistics, political science theory, geostrategy, hermeneutic analysis, and game theory. The article identifies various forms of political interaction, including strategic partnership, partnership relations, pragmatic relations, and practical cooperation. A clear set of characteristics defining strategic partnership is established.The study demonstrates that significant geostrategic differences exist among current strategic partners, particularly concerning shared values, attitudes toward Ukraine, perceptions of its role, and approaches to ensuring lasting and sustainable and resilience peace. Additionally, it examines the issue of holding international criminals of the Russian regime accountable for war crimes committed against Ukraine. It is noted that the coalition of interests and the coalition of actions do not always align, which, according to game theory, reduces the functional benefits of strategic cooperation. Through hermeneutic and political-legal linguistic methods, numerous inconsistencies in strategic legislative acts defining Ukraine's foreign policy are identified, illustrating the ambiguity of criteria used to designate a particular international actor as a strategic partner. By analyzing Ukraine’s interactions with the United States, Turkey, and China, the study highlights the multifaceted nature of foreign policy engagements while distinguishing them from strategic partnerships. This distinction is drawn by establishing clear “red lines” for partners based on specific signs and characteristics that qualify them as strategic partners for Ukraine.The formulation of strategic partnership characteristics allows for the conclusion that strategic relations should be directed toward the realization of Ukraine’s national interests, rooted in national values, with the objective of strengthening Ukrainian statehood and national identity, ensuring territorial integrity, the inviolability of state borders, national sovereignty, and independence, as well as recognizing and respecting Ukraine’s international subjectivity and sovereign equality. The article proposes the legitimization of the most essential characteristics of strategic partnership within the updated Strategy of Ukraine’s Foreign Policy.