The Five Historical Lessons for the Post-War Reconstruction of Ukraine: Reflections on B. Steil’s Book “The Marshall Plan. Dawn of the Cold War”

Abstract

The goal is to examining the historical experience of the European Recovery Program, better known as the Marshall Plan, to outline key lessons that Ukraine must consider during its postwar reconstruction following the repulsion of Russia’s large-scale armed aggression. Methodology. The principle of historicism, methods of historiographic analysis and synthesis, intellectual reflection, historical-comparative and comparativist analysis, as well as the method of historical analog y were used. Conclusions. Five key lessons have been stated: strategic objectives may be altered forcibly under the pressure of new circumstances, sometimes even to their opposites; recognize that even the closest allies pursue their own goals and interests; USA domestic political struggles significantly influence foreign policy; never trust the diplomacy of the Kremlin; just as the USSR sought to sabotage the implementation of the Marshall Plan, Russia will do the same during Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction, disregarding human lives and destinies.