Interaction between civil society and the state under the hybrid wars (the experience of Ukraine)
Interaction between civil society and the state under the hybrid wars (the experience of Ukraine)

Summary/Abstract: As social and political practice shows, the resources and efforts of public authorities are not enough to form an effective answer to the modern threats to national security. This is due to many reasons: bureaucratic state apparatus; system of subordination and hierarchy of government institutions; shortage of human resources (experts, specialists, analysts), and so on. For this reason, the search for alternative methods to improve the functioning of an informative security system is expedient, and can explain the attraction of non-state institutes to these processes. Western democracies are directed toward the participating of non-state institutes in organizational and administrative processes and civil society is a valuable participant in the political process. In general, it is possible to distinguish two basic and mutually conditioned factors regarding the attraction of civil society institutes to the provision of informative security. Firstly, it promotes the efficiency of functioning of the informative security system. Secondly, it demonstrates the orientation of the state towards western liberal democratic principles of management. In this scientific article, the theoretical bases of participation of civil society elements in counteraction to the informative threats to national security are analyzed. The objective necessity of co-operation between non-state institutes and the state in the security sector took into consideration the modern geopolitical conditions that Ukraine became embroiled in. A theoretical comprehension of a range of problems was also proved and determines the actuality of this article. Its primary purpose is an integral analysis of the theoretical bases of participation of civil society institutes in counteraction to modern informative threats, based on the experience of Ukraine. The following tasks appear in accordance with this purpose: to theoretically justify the need to involve civil society to ensure national security in the information sphere; determine the list of institutions that have the necessary capacity to participate effectively in ensuring national security in the information sphere; identifying key problems that exist in the mechanism of interaction between civil society and the state. For the realization of the above-mentioned aim and tasks of the research, the expediency was proved and basic directions of the involvement of non-state institutes in the process of informative security provision are determined, and the mechanisms of this process are systematized. It was necessary to apply different scientific methods because of the complication of the topic analysis. First of all, the use of system method should be mentioned. Thus, civil society was examined as an integral system that consists of connected elements. An institutional method, that gave an opportunity to analyze integrally the institutes of civil society, was also applied. In addition, induction, deduction, analysis, synthesis, generalization and others were used. The non-state subjects of the informative security provision in Ukraine found themselves as a focus of scientific analysis. The aim of the research is not only to study the examples of the activity of non-state institutes but also the interaction routes between them and the state. While analyzing the involvement of the native civil society to the counteraction to the informative threats, the decision was drawn that Ukraine owns sufficient "non-state potential" to conduct an effective protection policy concerning the national interests in the informative field. In spite of all this, the question is about both voluntary and organizational (public associations) and professionally expert (analytical centers) and informative (mass media) activity as well. It confirms the expediency of the involvement of Ukrainian civil society institutes in security policy. Public associations in this article are considered as a group of individuals that is voluntarily united, based on general social and political, economic, cultural, religious or other interests; a kind of mediator between society and the state. The Possibility for public structures to decide definite tasks in the spheres of life protection, safety and property of ordinary citizens, and to put the energy of citizens into creative activity and to reduce the level of social tension in society, especially in a society in the transitional (crisis) stage of its development – is one of the conditions for the sustainable development of the country. Given the theme of this article, attention is focused on the process of ensuring security in the information sphere. An example is the activities of the public associations «Center for Military-Political Studies» and their project «The Informative resistance». Its effective counteraction to Russian propaganda is presented in the article as evidence of the need to involve non-governmental organizations in security policy in the information sphere The special role in the provision of informative safety of the state is performed by non-governmental analytical centers or «think tanks» that belong to the second group of institutes. Think tanks are a source of expertise and intellectual resources needed in information security. This is exemplified here by the Ukrainian Centre for Economic and Political Studies, named after Olexander Razumkov, which is offers information and analytical support to the Ukrainian government in the sector of information security. In addition, this paper looks at a third group of institutions; namely the mass media, which on the one hand is a representative of the social and political process, and on the other hand helps form public opinion, as one of the basic sources of information. It acts as a valuable subject who between the informative space of the state and society and can play a dual role in helping the state in the provision of informative safety and acting as a basic informative threat. This article looks at the following regarding the media in providing information security: the rendering of objective and clear information that will base itself on the facts from reliable sources, the dissemination of counter-propaganda and protection of public opinion from the manipulative influences of external subjects, and the positive influence it can draw on social consciousness. In accordance with the aim and tasks, these exhaustive conclusions were drawn: Firstly, during the research the necessity of establishing an exact communicative connection between the civil society and the state in the sphere of national security was determined. Secondly, three groups of institutes that possess the necessary potential for the effective participation in national security provided in the informative sphere can be distinguished. Thirdly, in the process of co-operation between the civil society and the state there are a number of problems that hinder the national security provision in the informative sphere.

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