Contrary to predictions by many experts, Ukraine’s military has been resilient in the face of the Russian government’s invasion. Drawing on the logic of polycentric defense, this article helps explain how Ukraine has remained resistant against a conventionally more powerful adversary. We argue that polycentric defense in Ukraine has four benefits that aid counteroffensive efforts against invasion. First, polycentric defense facilitates the use of local and context-specific knowledge. Second, it permits competition, experimentation, and flexibility. Third, it reduces single-point failure vulnerabilities. Fourth, it encourages a wide variety of individuals to join the armed forces and contribute to the war effort. We present evidence of the benefits of polycentric defense in the context of the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Aerorovidka (2022) About us, https://aerorozvidka.xyz/about/, (Accessed: 12 Jan 2023).
Akimenko, V. (2018) Ukraine’s Toughest Fight: The Challenge of Military Reform, Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, http://carnegieendowment.org/2018/02/22/ukraine-s-toughest-fight-challenge-of-military-reform-pub-75609, (Accessed: 1 Apr 2023).
Alchian, A. (1950) Uncertainty, evolution, and economic theory, Journal of Political Economy, 58(3): 211–21. doi: 10.1086/256940
Alchian, A. and Demsetz, H. (1972) Production, information costs, and economic organization, American Economic Review, 62(5): 777–95.
Aligica, P.D. (2013) Institutional Diversity and Political Economy: The Ostroms and Beyond, New York: Oxford University Press.
Aligica, P.D. and Boettke, P.J. (2009) Challenging Institutional Analysis and Development: The Bloomington School, New York: Routledge.
Aligica, P.D. and Tarko, V. (2013) Co-production, polycentricity, and value heterogeneity: the Ostroms’ public choice institutionalism revisited, American Political Science Review, 107(4): 726–41. doi: 10.1017/S0003055413000427
Aligica, P.D., Boettke, P.J. and Tarko, V. (2019) Public Governance and the Classical-Liberal Perspective: Political Economy Foundations, New York: Oxford University Press.
Allen, D. (1998) Compatible incentives and the purchase of military commissions, Journal of Legal Studies, 27(1): 45–66. doi: 10.1086/468013
Amnesty International (2014) Ukraine must stop ongoing abuses and war crimes by pro-Ukrainian volunteer forces, 8 September, www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2014/09/ukraine-must-stop-ongoing-abuses-and-war-crimes-pro-ukrainian-volunteer-forces/, (Accessed: 14 Jan 2023).
Army SOS (2022) How we help, https://armysos.com.ua/donate/, (Accessed: 7 Aug 2022).
Askew, J. (2022) Meet the motley crew of anarchists and anti-fascists fighting Russia in Ukraine, EuroNews, 6 October, www.euronews.com/my-europe/2022/06/09/meet-the-motley-crew-of-anarchists-and-anti-fascists-fighting-russia-in-ukraine, (Accessed: 6 Dec 2022).
Bednar, J. (2009) The Robust Federation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bednar, J. (2014) Subsidiarity and robustness: building the adaptive efficiency of federal systems, in J. Fleming and J. Levy (eds) Federalism and Subsidiarity, New York: New York University Press, pp 231–56.
Bednar, J. (2016) Robust institutional design: what makes some institutions more adaptable and resilient to changes in their environment than others?, in D.S. Wilson and A. Kirman (eds) Complexity and Evolution: A New Synthesis for Economics, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp 167–84.
Beito, D.T. and Beito, L.R. (2017) T.R.M. Howard: Doctor, Entrepreneur, Civil Rights Pioneer, Oakland, CA: Independent Institute.
Berg, J. and Shearing, C. (2020) Polycentric security governance and sustainable development in the Global South, in J. Blaustein, K. Fitz-Gibbon, N.W. Pino and R. White (eds) The Emerald Handbook of Crime, Justice and Sustainable Development, Bingley: Emerald Publishing Limited, pp 153–73.
Boettke, P.J. (2018) Economics and public administration, Southern Economic Journal, 84(4): 938–59. doi: 10.1002/soej.12265
Breaking Defense (2022) Top American generals on three key lessons learned from Ukraine, https://breakingdefense.com/2022/03/top-american-generals-on-three-key-lessons-learned-from-ukraine/, (Accessed: 12 Jan 2023).
Brik, T. and Murtazashvili, J. (2022) The source of Ukraine’s resilience: how decentralized government brought the country together, Foreign Affairs, 28 June, www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/ukraine/2022-06-28/source-ukraines-resilience, (Accessed: 12 Jan 2023).
Budjeryn, M. (2016) Was Ukraine’s nuclear disarmament a blunder?, World Affairs, 179(2): 9–20. doi: 10.1177/0043820016673777
Butchenko, M. (2022) Ukraine’s territorial defence on a war footing, International Centre for Defence and Security, 13 April, https://icds.ee/en/ukraines-territorial-defence-on-a-war-footing/, (Accessed: 12 Mar 2023).
Cobb, C.E. (2015) This Nonviolent Stuff’ll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible, Durham: Duke University Press.
Collins, L. and Spencer, J. (2022) How volunteers can help defeat great powers, Military Times, www.militarytimes.com/opinion/commentary/2022/07/05/how-volunteers-can-defeat-great-powers/, (Accessed: 12 Jan 2023).
Come Back Alive (2022) How we help, https://savelife.in.ua/, (Accessed: 12 Jan 2023).
Coyne, C.J. (2015) Lobotomizing the defense brain, The Review of Austrian Economics, 28(4): 371–96. doi: 10.1007/s11138-015-0316-x
Coyne, C.J. and Goodman, N.P. (2020) Polycentric defense, The Independent Review, 25(2): 279–92.
Coyne, C.J., Goodman, N.P. and Hall, A.R. (2019) Sounding the alarm: the political economy of whistleblowing in the US security state, Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, 25(1): 1–11. doi: 10.1515/peps-2018-0024
Detsch, J. (2022) Ukrainian troops push back on US drones, Foreign Policy, https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/06/21/ukraine-us-drones-pushback/, (Accessed: 9 Aug 2022).
Drones for Ukraine Fund (2022) About us, www.dronesforukraine.fund/, (Accessed: 7 Aug 2022).
Elliptic Intel (2022) Ukrainians turn to bitcoin to crowdfund fight against Russia, www.elliptic.co/blog/ukrainians-turn-to-bitcoin-to-crowdfund-the-fight-against-russia, (Accessed: 12 Jan 2023).
Fearon, J. and Laitin, D. (2003) Ethnicity, insurgency, and civil war, American Political Science Review, 97(1): 75–90. doi: 10.1017/S0003055403000534
Forbes Ukraine (2022) За дев'ять місяців Росія витратила на війну $82 млрд—це чверть її річного бюджету. Наступного року РФ може її не потягнути. Розрахунки, https://forbes.ua/war-in-ukraine/za-devyat-misyatsiv-rosiya-vitratila-na-viynu-82-mlrd-tse-chvert-ii-richnogo-byudzhetu-rozrakhunki-forbes-24112022-9997, (Accessed: 12 Jan 2023).
Galey, P. (2022) Ukraine uses big guns and drone technology in devastating combo, NBC News, www.nbcnews.com/news/world/ukraine-army-uses-guns-weapons-drone-combo-rcna27881, (Accessed: 12 Jan 2023).
Goodman, N.P. (2017) The coproduction of justice, in C.W. Surprenant (ed) Rethinking Punishment in the Era of Mass Incarceration, New York: Routledge, pp 49–68.
Goralska, A. (2015) Report: Volunteer Battalions. Origin, Operations, Controversies, Open Dialogue Foundation, https://en.odfoundation.eu/a/6448,report-volunteer-battalions-origin-operation-controversies/, (Accessed: 17 Sep 2020).
Gorlov, D.M. and Korniesky, O.A. (2015) Volunteer Movement: Global Experience and Ukrainian Civic Practices, Kyiv: National Institute for Strategic Studies, https://web.archive.org/web/20160415001030/http://www.niss.gov.ua/content/articles/files/volonter-697e4.pdf, (Accessed: 1 Jun 2020).
Hambling, D. (2017) Ukraine’s drone army was born in the crucible of conflict, Popular Mechanics, www.popularmechanics.com/flight/drones/a25281/ukraine-makeshift-drones/, (Accessed: 9 Aug 2022).
Hambling, D. (2022a) How Ukraine perfected the small anti-tank drone, Forbes, www.forbes.com/sites/davidhambling/2022/06/01/how-ukraine-perfected-the-small-anti-tank-drone/?sh=50dd7d673171, (Accessed: 9 Aug 2022).
Hambling, D. (2022b) Only the brave: how Ukrainians can take on Russian tanks with Molotov cocktails, Forbes, www.forbes.com/sites/davidhambling/2022/03/02/only-the-brave-how-ukrainians-can-take-on-tanks-with-molotov-cocktails/?sh=42f1f7b1224c, (Accessed: 9 Aug 2022).
Hladka, K., Myronova, V., Pokalchuk, O., Trofymovych, V. and Shevchenko, A. (2017) Volunteer Battalions, Kharkiv: Folio.
Hlukhovsky, M. (2014) Right Sector Fighter: Regular Army Arms us, Bypassing Official System, Euromaidan Press, https://euromaidanpress.com/2014/12/20/right-sector-battalion-fighter-the-regular-army-finds-ways-around-the-official-system-to-arm-us/, (Accessed: 17 Oct 2020).
Inform Napalm (2022) Donbas, https://informnapalm.org/en/category/news/donbas/, (Accessed: 11 Aug 2022).
Interfax Ukraine (2022) Law on Foundations of National Resistance enters into force in Ukraine, https://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/789443.html, (Accessed: 7 Aug 2022).
Jacobs, J. (1961) The Death and Life of Great American Cities, New York: Random House.
John, T. and Lister, T. (2022) A far-right battalion has a key role in Ukraine’s resistance. Its neo Nazi history has been exploited by Putin, CNN, 30 March, www.cnn.com/2022/03/29/europe/ukraine-azov-movement-far-right-intl-cmd/index.html, (Accessed: 6 Dec 2022).
Jones, S.G. (2018) The rise of far-right extremism in the United States, Center for Strategic and International Studies, www.csis.org/analysis/rise-far-right-extremism-united-states, (Accessed: 14 Jan 2023).
Kesslen, B. (2022) Ukrainians develop drones that drop Molotov cocktails, New York Post, https://nypost.com/2022/03/10/ukrainians-develop-drone-that-drops-molotov-cocktails/, (Accessed: 7 Aug 2022).
Kiel Institute (2022) Ukraine support tracker, www.ifw-kiel.de/topics/war-against-ukraine/ukraine-support-tracker/, (Accessed: 12 Jan 2023).
Klein, M. (2015) Ukraine’s Volunteer Battalions—Advantages and Challenges, Stockholm: Swedish Defence Research Agency.
Koppl, R. (2018) Expert Failure, New York: Cambridge University Press.
Kossov, I. (2022) Ukraine’s new military branch: citizens protecting their neighborhood, Politico, 13 February, www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-russia-military-citizen-reservist-defense/, (Accessed: 12 Mar 2023).
Kovalev, A. (2022) As war hits the homefront, Russia’s defeat inches closer, Foreign Policy, https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/10/19/russia-ukraine-war-putin-defeat-retreat-mobilization-military-corruption/, (Accessed: 12 Jan 2023).
Lapko, A. (2014) Ukraine’s own worst enemy, New York Times, 7 October, www.nytimes.com/2014/10/08/opinion/in-war-time-corruption-in-ukraine-can-be-deadly.html, (Accessed: 12 Jan 2023).
Lavoie, D. (1985) Rivalry and Central Planning: The Socialist Calculation Debate Reconsidered, New York: Cambridge University Press.
Lindegaard, L.S. and Webster, N. (2018) Supporting Political Stability by Strengthening Local Government: Decentralisation in Ukraine, DIIS Report No. 2018:07, Copenhagen: Danish Institute for International Studies.
Liveuamap (Live Universal Awareness Map) (2022) Ukraine, https://liveuamap.com/ (Accessed: 10 Aug 2022).
Makarenko, O. (2016) Volunteers are creating a drone revolution for Ukraine’s army, Euromaidan Press, https://euromaidanpress.com/2016/11/30/volunteers-air-recconnaisance-donbas-ukraine/, (Accessed: 9 Aug 2022).
Meduza (2022) 2014 vs. 2022 Ukraine’s improved but still longshot odds of withstanding a full fledged Russian invasion, 18 January, https://meduza.io/en/feature/2022/01/19/2014-vs-2022, (Accessed: 12 Jan 2023).
Miller, G.J. (1992) Managerial Dilemmas: The Political Economy of Hierarchy, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ministry of Defence of Ukraine (2014) Facebook post, 7 May, www.facebook.com/modukraine/photos/a.1420185801565046.1073741828.1420141588236134/1432948886955404/?type=3&theater.
Ministry of Defence of Ukraine (2015a) Support Ukrainian army campaign: MoD of Ukraine received UAH 160 mln 46 thousand, Government Portal, http://old.kmu.gov.ua/kmu/control/en/publish/article?art_id=248659804&cat_id=244314975 (Accessed: 1 Jun 2020).
Ministry of Defence of Ukraine (2015b) Support Ukrainian army campaign: MoD of Ukraine received over UAH 158,657 million, Government Portal, https://www.kmu.gov.ua/en/news/248190219 (Accessed: 1 Jun 2020).
Morgenstern, O. (1959) The Question of National Defense, New York: Random House.
Murtazashvili, J.B. (2019) Pathologies of centralized state-building, PRISM, 8(2): 14. doi: 10.35194/jp.v8i1.395
Murtazashvili, J.B. and Murtazashvili, I. (2021) Land, the State, and War: Property Institutions and Political Order in Afghanistan, New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
O’Neil, J. (2022) Ukrainian women say Russian troops are flirting with them on tinder, New York Post, https://nypost.com/2022/02/24/ukrainian-women-say-russian-troops-are-flirting-with-them-on-tinder/?utm_source=NYPTwitter&utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_medium=SocialFlow, (Accessed: 11 Aug 2022).
Ostrom, E. (1996) Crossing the great divide: coproduction, synergy, and development, World Development, 24(6): 1073–87. doi: 10.1016/0305-750X(96)00023-X
Ostrom, E. (2005a) Unlocking Public Entrepreneurship and Public Economies, Discussion Paper 2005/001, Helsinki: UNU-WIDER, www.wider.unu.edu/publication/unlocking-public-entrepreneurship-and-public-economies, (Accessed: 12 Jan 2023).
Ostrom, E. (2005b) Understanding Institutional Diversity, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Ostrom, V. (1999) Polycentricity (Part 1), in M.D. McGinnis (ed) Polycentricity and Local Public Economies, Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, pp 52–74.
Ostrom, V., Tiebout, C.M. and Warren, R. (1961) The organization of government in metropolitan areas: a theoretical inquiry, American Political Science Review, 55: 831–42. doi: 10.2307/1952530
People’s Project (2017) People’s Project has been named a leader among charity initiatives again, www.peoplesproject.com/en/news/peoples-project-named-a-leader-among-charity-initiatives-again/, (Accessed: 12 Jan 2023).
People’s Project (2022) Volunteers People’s Project are preparing the next transfer to the front, www.peoplesproject.com/reports/volonteri-peoples-project-gotuyut-chergovu-peredachu-na-front/, (Accessed: 12 Jan 2023).
Petrenko, R. (2022) Янукович в Минске, Кремль хочет сделать его “президентом Украины”—источники, Pravda, 2 March, www.pravda.com.ua/rus/news/2022/03/2/7327392/, (Accessed: 12 Jan 2023).
Polyakov, L. (2013) Corruption obstructs reforms in the Ukrainian armed forces, in J.L. Derdzinski and V. Klemenko (eds) Alamac on Security Sector Governance in Ukraine 2012, Geneva and Kyiv: Zapovit Publishing House, pp 81–92.
Rainbow, J. (2022) As U.S. blames Russia for KA-SAT hack, Starlink sees growing threat, Space News, https://spacenews.com/as-us-blames-russia-for-ka-sat-hack-starlink-sees-growing-threat/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CStarlink%20has%20resisted%20Russian%20cyberwar,KA%2DSAT%20satellite%20internet%20network, (Accessed: 11 Aug 2022).
Roussinos, A. (2022) On the frontline with the Right Sector militia, UnHerd, 18 June, https://unherd.com/2022/06/on-the-frontline-with-the-right-sector-militia/, (Accessed: 6 Dec 2022).
Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation (2022) Military aid, https://prytulafoundation.org/en/home/support_army, (Accessed: 7 Aug 2022).
Sherr, J. (1997) Russia–Ukraine rapprochement? The Black Sea Fleet Accords, Survival, 39(3): 33–50. doi: 10.1080/00396339708442925
SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) (2021) Trends in world military expenditure, 2020, https://sipri.org/sites/default/files/2021-04/fs_2104_milex_0.pdf, (Accessed: 12 Jan 2023).
Tan, H. (2022) Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites are helping Ukraine’s elite drone unit destroy Russian tanks and trucks in the night: report, Business Insider, www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/elon-musks-starlink-satellites-are-helping-ukraines-elite-drone-unit-destroy-russian-tanks-and-trucks-in-the-night-report/articleshow/90345401.cms, (Accessed: 11 Aug 2022).
Tarko, V. (2017) Elinor Ostrom: An Intellectual Biography, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield International Ltd.
Taylor, A. (2014) Ukraine’s military is far smaller than Russia’s, but there are 3 reasons it might not be so easy to crush, Washington Post, www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/03/03/ukraines-military-is-far-smaller-than-russias-but-theres-3-reasons-it-might-not-be-so-easy-to-crush/, (Accessed: 8 Mar 2023).
Tiebout, C.M. (1956) A pure theory of local expenditures, Journal of Political Economy, 64(5): 416–24. doi: 10.1086/257839
Torba, V. (2017) Victor Muzhenko: there is a factor that the enemy did not expect. This is a Ukrainian character, Day, 9 March, https://day.kyiv.ua/ru/article/podrobnosti/armiya-voyna-ekzamen, (Accessed: 12 Jan 2023).
Transparency International (2014) Corruption Perceptions Index, www.transparency.org/cpi2014, (Accessed: 12 Jan 2023).
Transparency International (2021) Corruption Perceptions Index, www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2021, (Accessed: 12 Jan 2023).
United 24 (2022) Data on receipts to the special fundraising account of the National Bank of Ukraine for supporting the Armed Forces of Ukraine, https://files.u24.gov.ua/reports/2022-08-05/20220805_Report_ZSU.pdf, (Accessed: 8 Aug 2022).
Vice (2014) Under fire with the Azov Battalion, www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKnFSzMefIY&t=0s, (Accessed: 1 Jun 2020).
Wagner, R.E. (2005) Self-governance, polycentrism, and federalism: recurring themes in Vincent Ostrom’s scholarly oeuvre, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 57(2): 173–88. doi: 10.1016/j.jebo.2004.06.015
Walker, S. (2015) “We like partisan warfare.” Chechens fighting in Ukraine—on both sides, The Guardian, www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/24/chechens-fighting-in-ukraine-on-both-sides, (Accessed: 1 Jun 2020).
Walter, B. (2009) Bargaining failures and civil war, Annual Review of Political Science, 12: 243–61. doi: 10.1146/annurev.polisci.10.101405.135301
Wiśniewski, J.B. (2018) The Economics of Law, Order, and Action: The Logic of Public Goods, New York: Routledge.
Wood, G. (2017) The enemy votes: weapons improvisation and bargaining failure, The Economics of Peace and Security Journal, 13(1): 35–42.
Wood, G. (2019) Crowdfunding defense, Public Choice, 180(3–4): 451–67. doi: 10.1007/s11127-019-00648-w
Wood, G. (2022) The organization of volunteer battalions in Ukraine, Constitutional Political Economy, 33(2): 115–34. doi: 10.1007/s10602-021-09342-w
Yousif, E. (2022) Drone warfare in Ukraine: understanding the landscape, Stimson Center, www.stimson.org/2022/drone-warfare-in-ukraine-understanding-the-landscape/, (Accessed: 9 Aug 2022).
May 2022 onwards | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
---|---|---|---|
Abstract Views | 573 | 573 | 85 |
Full Text Views | 275 | 275 | 36 |
PDF Downloads | 362 | 362 | 30 |
Institutional librarians can find more information about free trials here