This project builds on Dr Howlett's prior two John Fell Fund Grants to continue investigating whether and how Ukrainians' attitudes towards their state’s territory and sovereignty have changed since Russia’s invasion of their country on 24 February 2022. In collaboration with Professor Janina Dill (Blavatnik), Dr Carl Müller-Crepon (LSE), and the Ukraine-based non-governmental organisation and think tank, the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation (DIF), the project will run several survey experiments in Ukraine to comparatively analyse the views of citizens living in different regions of Ukraine about the political, security, and economic situation of their country. The results from the first survey (conducted in July 2022 survey) were published in AJPS in 2023.
This project is incredibly 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 project will also strategically aid both academics and policymakers in better understanding the current grassroots social and political dynamics in Ukraine. This project will further produce robust empirical data about an ever evolving and profoundly opaque operating environment in which NATO countries like the UK and US are actively involved. The intrinsic value of this research project is hence that it can continue to help 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
