Problem
The conflicting historical narratives on the development of relations between Russia and the West since the end of the Soviet Union and, in particular, the narratives on the crisis in and around Ukraine are key factors in improving relations in the short and medium-term and returning to rule-based security architecture in Europe.
The narratives are so irreconcilable that, for example, as part of the OSCE’s structured dialogue, it has been deliberately decided not to talk about the past, because this leads repeatedly to dead ends. A closer look reveals, however, that not only monolithic blocks, but different narratives exist in the respective societies and differentiated analyses of individual experts are available.
Project’s aim
The present project is working on a merger of these differentiated analyses from the participating countries into a metanarrative that incorporates the perceptions of all participants and thus contributes to overcoming the communication blockade.
This metanarrative is to be recorded in the form of a hypothetical history book chapter published in the year 2090 over the period 1989 – 2014.
Project term
July – December 2019
Project participants
Historians, political scientists, and experts were invited to participate in the project from the Ukrainian side, who:
- have expertise in working with historical narratives in Ukraine;
- work in or in the political sphere: decision-makers in think tanks, policy advisers, media representatives, historians, and educational representatives;
- ready to engage in dialogue with German and Russian participants;
- speak oral and written English.
The selected participants from the above-mentioned groups were persons that have a high “multiplier potential”. A balanced political composition coupled with a willingness to engage in constructive engagement was essential to the success of the project.
Activities
Seminar for a group of Ukrainian participants, during which the goals and objectives of the project and working methods were presented, was held on September 23 – 24, 2019 in Kyiv.
Similar seminars for a group of German participants and a group of Russian participants were conducted in Berlin and Moscow.
Joint 5-day workshop for 18 participants from Ukraine, Germany, and Russia on analyzing different narratives and drafting a joint text of a hypothetical history textbook was held on November 8 – 12, 2019 in Berlin.
Outputs
- Publication “Gaps and Overlaps. Navigating through contested German-Russian-Ukrainian narratives” as a result of the joint work of more than twenty experts from academia, think tanks and NGOs, as well as journalists.
- The consensus-oriented online-dialogue tool that enables collaborative working on one joint text.
- Explanatory video on German-Russian-Ukrainian expert dialogue.
Project’s partners
inmedio peace consult gGmbH (Berlin) was founded in 1998 in Berlin and Frankfurt am Main. inmedio runs mediation and dialogue projects in various countries in Asia, Africa and the post-Soviet region in cooperation with the local partners. Furthermore, inmedio supports international actors and their projects by trainings & team-buildings and strategic policy advice.
Institute of Law and Public Policy (ILPP) is a Russian autonomous non-profit organization, one of the leading independent legal centers, since 1993 engaged in research, publishing and educational activities in the field of studying and evaluating constitutional processes in Russia and in the world.
Support
The project was realized due to the support of the German Foreign Office.
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