Today, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Oleksiy Dniprov announced to the employees of the Institute the Decree of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky dated September 10, 2021 №461 "On the appointment of O. Bogomolov as the Director of the National Institute for Strategic Studies", introduced the director of NISS Oleksandr Bogomolov, presented him with an official identification card, congratulated him on his appointment to this responsible position and wished him and NISS employees further productive work in this extremely important and responsible area.
Oleksandr Bogomolov thanked the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky for the trust and noted:
"Those unexpected events on a global scale (COVID, Russian aggression, the emergence of ISIS, the finale of the Afghan war), if they seem to be explained in some cases, generally form an increasingly volatile and uncertain picture, such that requires understanding from institutions like this - and from the entire international think tank community - enhanced intellectual effort - painstaking daily work ahead.
In fact, I am not the first day acquainted with NISS and some of its institutions: I have repeatedly participated in various events, conferences and projects, I know - to varying degrees - with several of its former leaders and employees, with whom I appreciate the experience of communication.
For Ukraine, NISS is a unique institution, primarily because it combines practical experience with scientific knowledge. This is a difficult combination. It can be both useful and problematic. Against the background of interpersonal relations, it can lead to disputes, but in the plane of organized activity, it creates a great creative potential. After all, science (I mean the social sciences) and practice, in fact, need each other. Science enriches experience, and contact with social reality is vital to science. Here it is appropriate to quote the classic (Kurt Lewin), who in 1947 said, “Nothing is more practical than a good theory”.
It is impossible to invent a formula for the relationship between practice and theory - one for all time, and for each specific circumstance - time and political situation - it will be its own. In our case, it is determined by a common vision of the goal, which now seems clear. And it consists in overcoming the existential threats facing Ukrainian statehood. These threats are complex in nature, and overcoming them requires considerable cognitive effort.
At various stages of its existence, the Institute was a generator of ideas and concepts that shaped public debate and served as a basis for the development of the state and society. Now the market of ideas has significantly diversified, which is undoubtedly a sign of sustainable democratic development of our state, and external challenges have increased and become more complicated, and for intellectual supremacy is now necessary and worth fighting. I hope that soon - through joint efforts - the Institute will enter the right pace needed to achieve this goal.
During the procedure of my appointment, I had several important meetings with the senior officials. Priorities and expectations from further work of the Institute in various areas were discussed. It remains to implement them, in what, colleagues, I hope for your cooperation".