Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic Integration: The Global and Regional Dimensions: The Collection of Analytical Materials / Institute of Social Sciences, Odessa I.I. Mechnikov National University; I.M. Koval, S.V. Glebov, V.A. Dubovyk and others; edited by I.M. Koval. – Odessa: Astroprint, 2008. – 144 p.

What is the optimal model for the Ukrainian national security? This subject still causes intensive discussion among the political elites and broad public in our country. These are the debates to identify the adequate formats and methods which could secure the country and protect it against the existing and potential threats.

The prospect of Ukraine possibly joining NATO remains one of the most debatable issues. The policy aimed at joining NATO is approved by Ukrainian legislative authorities. However this does not stop the debates which lead to the threat of increasing contradictions and misunderstanding in the society under current circumstances of the political instability and numerous political campaigns.

One of the main reasons of such a situation is a very low awareness level of the citizens on the essence of the Euro-Atlantic integration and potential advantages of joining the Alliance. At the same time distorted and biased stereotypes on NATO are widely spread.

The first section of this book is devoted to the analysis of the general processes in the global security field which took place after the end of Cold War. In particular, the attention is focused on the trends in the development of the post-bipolar international system, the globalization impact and the role of the Euro-Atlantic community. The second section describes the separate regional dimension of the international security. NATO’s role in the Wider Black Sea region is of special interest. The final, third, section concerns the relations of our country with NATO and contains analysis of Ukraine’s role in the Euro-Atlantic security system. In addition, this section analyzes the results of the opinion poll in Odessa region which was organized to study the public attitudes regarding the issues mentioned above.