Viva Success for Doctoral Researcher Artur Nadiiev

Congratulations to the School of Politics and International Relations' doctoral research student Artur Nadiiev who recently passed his PhD viva.

His doctoral thesis 'Ukraine’s national identity and foreign policy, 2004–2014', examines how narratives of national identity—both popular and elite—shaped Ukraine’s foreign policy in the decade between the Orange Revolution and the Euromaidan. Artur argues that Ukraine’s national identity and pro-Western foreign policy gradually consolidated between 2004 and 2014, well before the 2014 Euromaidan and Russian invasion. It challenges the dominant East/West binary and materialist explanations by showing that both popular and elite narratives—rather than geographic or economic divisions—were central to shaping Ukraine’s foreign policy. Using societal constructivism and postcolonial literary analysis, he demonstrates that Ukraine’s foreign policy was identity driven and rooted in a long-standing internal dialogue about belonging, sovereignty, and European integration.

Artur's thesis was examined by Dr Louise Kettle (University of Nottingham) and Professor Valentina Feklyunina (University of Newcastle). His PhD was supervised by Professor Bettina Renz (University of Nottingham) and Dr Carl Gibson (University of Nottingham).

Congratulations Artur!