The Clash of Narratives in Russia-Ukraine Conflict: Wartime Cultural Diplomacy

The war in Ukraine has plunged the West into a spiral of insecurity\r\ndriven by the presence of a war “at the European\r\ndoorstep”, without a certain and predictable conclusion. At\r\nthe same time, in the Western Balkans region, there is a resurgence\r\nof nationalist sentiments based on ethnic and cultural\r\ndivisions that risk adding another destabilizing factor to\r\nthe European neighbourhood.\r\nThese different scenarios have an element in common: the\r\nuse of culture in the narrative accompanying these forms of\r\nconflict, whether latent or open. Culture is used to define\r\none’s national identity in an exclusionary manner towards\r\nminorities in the country; to persuade the audience on the\r\nlegitimacy of political instances; to foment cultural hatred\r\nthat seemed dormant. Finally, culture in its material manifestations\r\nis targeted as a military objective to be physically destroyed,\r\nto discredit the enemy and assert one’s narrative of\r\nevents. This volume seeks to expose all the ways in which culture is\r\nleveraged and narrated in modern conflicts and political\r\ncompetitions, focusing primarily on Ukraine and the countries\r\nof the Western Balkans. The choice of this geographical\r\nlocation is driven not only by the urgency to provide interpretative\r\ntools for ongoing events but also by the importance\r\nthese countries hold for the stability of the European continent\r\nand the future prospects of their integration into the\r\nEuropean Union.