Plokhy: The battle for minds is part of the war

From a historical perspective, a war is now being waged over who controls the narrative, and this is happening primarily on the territory of Ukraine, historian Serhii Plokhy told Ukrainska Pravda in an interview.

“Today, in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, we see Russian textbooks being introduced and Ukrainian books being confiscated, burned, or destroyed. In other words, Ukrainians are being turned into Russians not only politically, but culturally as well,” he said.

Another battlefield, Plokhy adds, is how the war is perceived outside of Russia and Ukraine.

“In the Western world, the dominant narrative is that Russia’s aggression is a violation of international law and an unprovoked attack on another state. But at the same time, there is an alternative narrative: that NATO and the West provoked Russia and are responsible for the conflict,” he said.

This narrative finds support both among the left, which traditionally views the United States as an imperialist power, and among the right, which believes isolationism should be the guiding principle.

“Not to mention countries in the Global South, where anti-imperialism is understood as an anti-Western ideology and nothing else,” Plokhy said.

The outcome of the war will have significant consequences even in the short term, he added.

“The world will have to deal with whoever can convince themselves and others that they have won.” 

Read the full interview here.