The special issue of the American Behavioral Scientist Journal in print on the current situation in Ukraine, which contains five articles by EUASU academicians will be published in March 2023. 

American Behavioral Scientist (ABS) is a top-ranked (Q1), peer-reviewed journal providing in-depth scholarly information and analysis for researchers, professionals, and students on important contemporary topics throughout the social and behavioral sciences. Each issue of American Behavioral Scientist offers a comprehensive analysis of a single topic by a variety of scholars, examining such important and diverse disciplines as sociology, international and U.S. politics, behavioral sciences, communication and media, economics, education, ethnic and racial studies, terrorism, and public policy studies. 

This special issue of American Behavioral Scientist is dedicated to understanding the current Russian-Ukrainian war. 

On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine in a major escalation of the existing lower-level Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Russian forces attacked cities, villages, and infrastructure across Ukraine. Hundreds of thousands of people – civilians and soldiers – have since died on both sides. Since November it has become increasingly difficult to conduct professional activity and normal everyday life in Ukraine, due mainly to repeated and targeted Russian attacks on the infrastructure of the energy sector across the whole of Ukraine. This has led to regular blackouts all over the country. Regardless of this wide-ranging worsening of living conditions, the European Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (EUASU) has continued to follow its academic mission, and has even expanded it by supporting scholars, journalists, and people in need, as well as continuing its regular scientific activity. 

On 15-19th of July, the International Interdisciplinary Conference Unknown Wars was organized by the EUASU Academy. It was dedicated to the concept of global threats and related phenomena. The discussion panels, attended by more than 20 scholars and experts from different spheres and countries, raised questions that can be generalized to the main ones: what will be the next test for humanity, and how to survive and flourish amidst global threats in all their manifestations: pandemics, crises, wars, etc.? (The conference took place online but was not broadcast live on social media. The Collected Papers book is accessible on the conference website and the issue of Granite of Science dedicated to the conference).

This special issue of American Behavioral Scientist is in many respects a continuation of the Unknown wars conference. The special issue was initiated by EUASU Academician Harvey W. Kushner, an internationally recognized expert on terrorism and Chairman of the Criminal Justice Department and a Professor of Criminal Justice at Long Island University Post (Brookville, New York), and also a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of ABS. Dr. Kushner observed that he was “amazed at the resiliency of the EUASU staff and academicians who were physically in Ukraine” during the conference and pointed out that such “performance in the face of such adversity was downright remarkable”.  His initial idea was to publish an issue on the current situation in Ukraine written by scholars and experts who witnessed the events from the inside, which makes the issue particularly valuable.

 In the Editor’s Introduction to the issue, Harvey W. Kushner wrote:

 “As an academic involved in the study of terrorism and someone who has dealt directly with its horrific consequences, I was impressed by the work of the EUASU in bringing a semblance of normalcy to the academic community within Ukraine during such turbulent times.”

The issue provides insight into some of the most discussed topics regarding the Russian-Ukrainian war, as reflected in the titles which are available on OnlineFirst:

▪️ Editor’s Introduction by EUASU academician Prof. Harvey W. Kushner and EUASU journalist Kanykei Tursunbaeva 

▪️ The War Feed: Digital War in Plain Sight by EUASU academician Prof. Andrew Hoskins and Pavel Shchelin.

This is the only article in the issue written by authors outside Ukraine who nevertheless were inside the media sphere of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. 

▪️ War Crimes: Their Nature and Parameters by Presidium member and academician of EUASU Dr. Oleg Maltsev, and EUASU corresponding member Iryna Lopatiuk 

▪️ Does Ukraine Have the Right to be an EU Member? by Dr. Oleg Maltsev

▪️ The Impact of Russian Military Aggression on the Psychological Health of Ukrainian Youth by EUASU academician Prof. Vitalii Lunov, Olga Lytvynenko, Dr. Oleg Maltsev, and Liudmyla Zlatova

▪️ The War in Ukraine and its Challenge to NATO: Peacekeeping to Peace Engineering by EUASU academician Prof. Maxim Lepskiy and Nataliia Lepska

All of the articles will be available to read online for free for the next few weeks and are also included in a special issue of the journal. 

Online issue: War in Ukraine

Professor Kushner and the Editorial board members of the American Behavioral Scientist Journal hope that this issue can influence the entire world, providing better understanding of the current situation in Ukraine “by looking at it through for the most part Ukrainian eyes”.