Leading research fellow at the Institute of History of Ukraine of the NAS of Ukraine, Doctor of Historical Sciences Olena Styazhkina, in an essay published as part of the initiative "25 Strategic Questions for Ukraine" – a special project of the Frontier Institute and Ukrainer, reflects on why accepting the reality of war does not mean reconciliation with its horrors, how routine can become the key to resilience, and whether there is a chance to return to the world that once was.
Some quotes from the historian's essay:
"The solid ground lies in the fact that we have already normalized war. Therefore, our task is to calmly realize this and scale practical skills into strategy."
"Normalization is not accepting war as a good thing, but incorporating it into strategic thinking and management models. War becomes a factor taken into account in planning, like climate risks, the labor market, or demographics."
"If you know how to record losses and victories, then routinization should be counted among the latter. Through it, we turn threats and danger into repeatable and predictable practices."
"Routinization of war is the work of realizing that security values are more important than consumption values."
"Against the backdrop of the Kremlin's panic-warrior rhetoric towards Europe, Ukraine no longer looks like a problem but becomes a solution, mainly thanks to experience, skills, knowledge, and technologies."