Abstract

The problem of the formation of the Ukrainian-American relations is an extremely relevant issue in the context of the study of the origins, present status and prospects of development of the strategic partnership between Ukraine and the United States. This publication is devoted to the study of the initial stages of the selection process, the Ukrainian question in a separate direction of the State Department. Chronologically the transition of the Ukrainian question from the «zone of indifference» to an individual in American foreign policy coincided with the Ukrainian Liberation competition 1917-1920, outcome of the first world war and fundamental changes in the global system of international relations. Analyzing the existing problems with historiography this note the following. The entire array of scientific works can be divided into several blocks, it is first of all memoires and scientific Edition of the direct participants in events, the so-called of Diaspora literature, the scientific exploration of the Soviet period and the latest work of Ukrainian scientists. Among the latest to highlight separately. V. Golovchenko, I. Dashkevich, E. Kaminski, S. Kulchytsky, O. Pavlyuk, V. Soldatenko, etc. The main purpose of this publication was the failure of research United States isolationism, gradually changing their role in world politics and the emergence of the issue in the foreign policy doctrine of United States in the first quarter of the twentieth century. The first attempt to establish contacts with the West, the Ukrainian leadership, including with the United States was unsuccessful due to a number of both subjective and objective reasons. The United States at that time lacked a clearly defined strategic interest on the territory of Ukraine, American capital has held positions on the formation of East Europe, and the Ukrainian Diaspora has not yet gained significant weight in the socio-political life of the United States. In the aftermath of the liberation of the geopolitical interests of the United States regarding the existence of an independent Ukrainian State still only formalized in the beginning. American political leadership is still not understood the role of Ukraine in the system of international relations, European and Ukrainian diplomats failed to make clear their demands and aspirations. To this is added and the historical legacy, as the Russian Empire of the eighteenth century. took the leading place in the system of the balance of forces on the European continent. In the United States was missing and understanding of ethnic, political and social history of the development of the Ukrainian liberation struggle. Except for a few experts, the American political elite, not to mention the wide public, was not familiar with the Ukrainian issue.