Two most prominent theories in the study of nationalism are the study of nationalism as a process of modernization in society, and through the lens of ethnic and cultural aspects of the country’s composition (Gellner, Smith and Neuman). We can include a third approach to the study of nationalism, through development and formation of the state (Skospol) and nationalism under conditions of external threat (Tilly: 14). This paper will address the topic of the external threat and its impact on the nationalism in Ukraine. It will illustrate a positive correlation between a presence of external threat and civic nationalism in Ukraine. It will show that Ukraine is becoming a nation that defined not but ethnic symbols, traditions and values, but equal civic rights and freedoms within the sovereign territory. The presence of the outside threat made the country and their citizens united as civic nation stronger than ever before.
