When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the world witnessed more than a military conflict. It saw a direct assault on national security, human rights, and the very foundations of international order. A new academic study published in a peer-reviewed journal now examines this crisis through two distinct lenses: legal regulation and Islamic law.
The study, authored by Oleh Shkuta, Yevhen Leheza, Iryna Telelym, Anatolii Anosienkov, and Oleh Yaroshak from Ukrainian universities, takes a historical and comparative approach. It asks a fundamental question: how do national law and Islamic legal principles address the problem of national stability during war?
Their conclusion is striking in its simplicity. Cooperation—between states, between legal systems, and between cultures—offers the only viable path forward.
Understanding the Six Factors Behind the War
The researchers identify six critical factors that led to the Russia-Ukraine War. First, Ukraine signed the Budapest Memorandum on December 5, 1994, relinquishing its nuclear weapons without receiving guaranteed compliance. Second, pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych governed from 2010 to 2014, ruining the national economy and military establishment. Third, Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, and Europe responded with weak sanctions. Fourth, corruption went unchecked in Ukraine for 30 years, from 1990 to 2021, meaning no arms purchases or military plans materialized. Fifth, Vladimir Putin faced impunity for military conflicts in Chechnya from 1999 to 2009, in Syria, and in Ukraine. Sixth, these factors converged to enable Putin’s long reign from 1999 onward.
The study notes that Russian troops committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, evidenced by ruthless massacres of thousands of civilians in Bucha, Borodyanka, Gostomel, Irpin, and Buzova. These events form the backdrop against which national security must be understood.
What National Security Really Means
National security is not merely about borders and armies. The researchers define personal safety as a state of protection from dangerous factors at the level of one’s interests and needs. Freedom from fear is a core value of human security. When religious freedom is violated, this basic value is threatened. A strong judicial system helps keep crime down, contributing to freedom from fear.
The concept of human security extends far beyond the absence of violent conflict. It covers human rights, good governance, education, and culture. In the Agenda for Peace, published in 1992 by the UN Secretary-General, the document notes that threats to global security may not only be military because diseases and natural disasters “can cause no less devastation than weapons war.” The document emphasizes that security should focus on people, not only on the protection of national borders.
The researchers identify two approaches to national security. The first favors protection, proceeding from the assumption that the social system exists in a hostile environment. A small mistake or detected weakness can provoke harsh aggressive actions. Such a system sees its survival exclusively in providing protection, spending all available resources for this purpose, and neglecting development tasks. Active methods include deterring the enemy by demonstrating the ability to inflict unacceptable damage, preventive actions, active countermeasures, and active destructive actions. Passive means include avoiding contact with a hostile environment, being patient with one’s experiences, and humbly repairing the damage.
The second approach emphasizes ensuring the social system’s own sustainable growth and development. Such a system proceeds from the assumption that the social environment behaves either benevolently or neutrally. It considers threats as the result of insufficiently thought-out, hasty, or overly risky decisions. The potential of such a system consists in eliminating the risk of making decisions that could prevent its progressive movement forward.
Six Factors Behind the Russia-Ukraine War
| Factor | What Happened | Why It Mattered |
|---|---|---|
| Budapest Memorandum (1994) | Ukraine gave up nuclear weapons without guaranteed compliance | Left Ukraine without deterrence against Russian aggression |
| Yanukovych Presidency (2010–2014) | Pro-Russian leader ruined national economy and military | Weakened Ukraine’s defense and economic stability |
| Crimea Annexation (2014) | Russia annexed Crimea; Europe responded with weak sanctions | Set precedent for further Russian expansion |
| Corruption (1990–2021) | 30 years of unchecked corruption; no arms purchases or military plans | Left Ukraine militarily unprepared for invasion |
| Putin’s Impunity | No consequences for Chechnya (1999–2009), Syria, and Ukraine | Emboldened Putin to pursue further aggression |
| Convergence | These factors enabled Putin’s long reign from 1999 onward | Created conditions for the 2022 full-scale invasion |
The Many Dimensions of National Security
National security includes various spheres: military, economic, informational, ecological, commodity, social, political, and spiritual and moral. Each area has its specific mechanisms, forms, and methods of ensuring security. Security should be understood not only as a concept and a set of requirements but also as the real condition of a person, society, and the state—a “condition of security” that should be experienced.
The education system is an integral part of the state as a social system. The level of development of human capital assets affects the stability of the state’s development and the condition of its national security. The interaction between the education system and national security can be characterized by a large number of cause-and-effect relationships that cannot always be imagined quantitatively.
Two Approaches to National Security
| Approach | Core Assumption | Methods | Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Protection-First | Social environment is hostile; survival requires defense | Deterrence, preventive actions, countermeasures, destructive actions | Ensures survival against immediate threats | Neglects development; consumes all resources |
| Development-First | Social environment is benevolent or neutral; threats come from internal decisions | Sustainable growth, risk elimination, progressive decision-making | Promotes long-term stability and prosperity | May underestimate external threats |
Islamic Law and the Five Essentials
In Islamic law discourse, the state’s task is to provide a sense of security to all its citizens by creating national stability, so that all people experience benefit and justice. The benefit of the state can be built if the state provides security guarantees by preserving five essential elements.
The first is hifz al-nafs, preserving the soul. The second is hifz al-mal, preserving property. The third is hifz al-din, preserving religion. The fourth is hifz al-‘aql, preserving reason. The fifth is hifz al-nasl, preserving descendants. These five essentials form the core of maqasid al-shari’ah, the higher objectives of Islamic law.
The researchers argue that maintaining national security stability and the right to life and security, free from corruption and all the problems that occurred in the Ukraine-Russia war, aligns with the legal provisions of hifz al-nafs. The state must provide a sense of security to all its citizens—safe from all forms of injustice, insecurity, corruption, and national security threats. Likewise, large countries must help create national and global security.
Apart from hifz al-nafs, the unstable condition of national security caused by corruption gives rise to a situation of chaos that threatens the safety of assets, or hifz al-mal. Corruption causes the distribution and use of assets by people who are not entitled to them. It further undermines national economic stability.
The Five Essentials of Islamic Law (Maqasid al-Shari’ah) and Their Relevance to the Ukraine War
| Essential | Arabic Term | What It Protects | How Corruption or War Threatens It | Relevance to Ukraine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soul | Hifz al-nafs | Life and personal safety | War kills civilians; corruption diverts resources from defense | Protecting civilians from Russian aggression |
| Property | Hifz al-mal | Assets and economic stability | Corruption misallocates assets; war destroys infrastructure | Preventing corruption to ensure stable economy |
| Religion | Hifz al-din | Freedom of faith | War disrupts religious practice; occupation suppresses faith | Ensuring religious freedom during conflict |
| Reason | Hifz al-‘aql | Intellect and education | War disrupts education; fakes and propaganda distort thinking | Maintaining education and information security |
| Descendants | Hifz al-nasl | Family and future generations | War kills children; corruption undermines future stability | Protecting children and youth from war’s effects |
Foreign Experience: The United States and STEM Education
The study examines how the United States approaches national security through education. In recent years, the US has identified science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM), and modern foreign languages as priority areas of knowledge and training for ensuring national security. The main fields of application include artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, quantum informatics, advanced technologies, and manufacturing.
The main risks to US national security include a decrease in the level of mastery of STEM skills among American schoolchildren and graduates, rising education levels in geopolitical adversary countries, a reduction in the number and share of American students studying STEM disciplines, a decrease in the number of American higher education graduates specializing in STEM, a decrease in the quality of teaching STEM education, and a persisting gap in academic achievement between different demographic groups.
The consequences of these risks include a shortage of qualified personnel in branches of the national economy related to national security and advanced technologies, which is filled by migrants, including those from geopolitical adversary countries. The US STEM education system may be unable to meet domestic demand for a STEM-qualified workforce, leading to digital illiteracy among American citizens.
Reduction of national security risks in the sphere of education is ensured by improving STEM teaching and providing support to working teachers, increasing the number and share of students of STEM disciplines at all levels of education, increasing the number of graduates specializing in STEM sciences, making STEM education accessible, and forming basic and applied research knowledge in STEM fields.
US STEM Education and National Security Risks
| Risk | Description | Consequence |
|---|---|---|
| Declining STEM Skills | US students lag in science, math, and technology | Shortage of qualified personnel for national security roles |
| Rising Adversary Education | Geopolitical rivals improve their STEM education | Loss of technological advantage |
| Fewer STEM Graduates | Fewer American students specialize in STEM | Dependence on migrants, including from adversary nations |
| Poor Teaching Quality | Decline in STEM instruction quality | Digital illiteracy among American citizens |
| Demographic Achievement Gap | Persistent gaps between different groups | Unequal access to STEM careers and opportunities |
Corruption: The Silent Threat
Preventing and combating corruption is an important problem in ensuring national security both in peacetime and in wartime. Corruption affects not only the legal, social, and economic spheres but also the military sphere, where it brings great changes.
Corruption destroys the development of the military-industrial complex. It prevents the introduction of innovative means of protection for military personnel. It disturbs the development and testing of new weapons and new technologies. It hampers the provision of military personnel with the necessary equipment, protection, and weapons. All this is necessary for the defense and protection of the country and for the liberation of territories from occupation.
Unfortunately, systemic measures for preventing and combating corruption do not bring effective results. Sometimes this is due to the lack of political will. Sometimes the reason consists of the ineffectiveness of corruption-combating mechanisms. Often this is due to the unprofessionalism of personnel representatives who form and implement anti-corruption policy.
The problem of corruption in wartime conditions harms not only the situation in regions where hostilities are taking place but also undermines the reputational capital of the country in the international arena. Damage to the country’s reputation may lead to allies not trusting the state and not providing vital assistance in financing the defense-industrial complex, innovative weapons, and technologies. This may lead to irreparable consequences on the battlefield. Therefore, overcoming corruption becomes a priority for ensuring national security.
Information Security and Mental Security
Another important problem of national security consists in providing information security. This means ensuring the protection of society from fakes and distortions of information leading to panic among the population, negative perception of public management decisions by state authorities, and loss of trust in state authorities. These can lead to irreparable consequences in conditions of war.
Today, social transformation processes are taking place rapidly. These processes are based on information-communication and technical-technological changes, naturally leading to the emergence of risks concerning dysfunctional and disorganized states of the social system, its institutions, and subsystems. Currently, the sovereignty of a national state is significantly limited in the information and intellectual spheres. That is why, in modern conditions, significant growth is typical for threats and risks associated with the information sphere, which is an integral part of the entire national security.
One of the main negative factors affecting the condition of information security consists of increased possibilities for information and technical influence on the information infrastructure for military purposes. At the same time, there is intensified activity of organizations carrying out intelligence on the work of scientific organizations and state enterprises, particularly on organizations of the defense-industrial complex.
At the current stage of ensuring national security and the evolution of global trends, mental security is the key to the survival of society and the state. Military operations, information challenges, and globalization processes causing specific side effects pose a significant danger to the mentality. It should be taken into account that information technologies and globalization are objective processes that cannot be stopped or reversed. In addition to negative factors, globalization and information technologies also have positive aspects. Therefore, the impact of globalization processes must be taken into account to compensate for its mental costs in the mechanism of ensuring national security.
However, globalization is not the main threat to mental security. The most serious destructive effect on the mentality is caused by informational distortions and fakes. In this case, the matter is about the tools of “soft power,” which is less expensive and more effective compared to military or economic methods. This problem is becoming one of the most important problems in ensuring national security in the world. Mental safety includes aspects such as education, cultural and tourist sphere, spiritual, social, and labor sphere.
Financing National Security
Financing is one of the important problems in the system of ensuring national security. The financial security of a state as a component of its national security is the basis of the economic development of the country, which ensures the sovereignty and integrity of the country, as well as a decent standard of living for its citizens.
In the conditions of martial law, the issues of financial security of the state become of great importance. The defense of the country, the army, and the functioning of defense and security agencies rely on sufficient and stable financial support, both domestically and with the involvement of international aid. Therefore, the search for sources of financing and determination of directions for the use of financial resources is the basis of ensuring the protection and development of production in the country in peacetime and is extremely important in wartime.
Elements of the state’s financial security include available financial resources, the possibility of their accumulation and stable use to ensure victory over the enemy, elimination of threats to the state integrity of Ukraine and its national interests, and security of the country’s citizens. These elements require legal regulation.
Patriotic Education and National Identity
There is a separate problem of ensuring patriotic education of children and youth to form their national self-awareness and understanding of the importance of language and national culture in the system of national security. It is patriotic education that will fulfill the role of developing national identity and national unity of society.
The Path Forward: Cooperation as the Only Solution
The study concludes that ensuring the national security of Ukraine includes a complex of national and international measures. Determination of strategic priorities, correct understanding of problems in the sphere of national security, search for optimal ways to solve such problems, and close cooperation of states in creating an effective system for countering modern threats will contribute to ensuring national security.
This includes preventing corruption as part of preserving property (hifz al-mal) and maintaining life safety from war as part of preserving the soul (hifz al-nafs) of Ukraine and international security in the world. Only cooperation can solve the urgent strategic tasks of ensuring national security in difficult world conditions and new globalization challenges.
The researchers emphasize that Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukrainian territory, the formation of a new international military alliance, and the establishment of international cooperation to strengthen the security of the world community were identified as innovative ways to develop international and global security. This is important to ensure national security in wartime conditions is maintained because security is a basic need that must be guaranteed in the context of national law, human rights, and Islamic law.
