Patriotism as a Component of the Policy of Nation-Building (the Experience of the EAEU Countries)

In: Contemporary Europe, Band 100, Heft 7, S. 46-55

Abstract

The article explores the experience of the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union in the formation and implementation of the ideology of patriotism and the state policy of patriotic education. The context of nation-building processes is considered along with approaches to formulating a national idea and national (civic) identity. Particular attention is paid to the discourse of the authorities. Through a comparative political analysis, the general and special characteristics of the models introduced in the EAEU countries constants and dominants of discursive practices are revealed. The argumentation of representatives of the top political leadership in their attitudes to the proposed guidelines and priorities of socio-political development through an appeal to the value component taking into account the relationship of internal and external dimensions is shown. It is emphasized the lack of demand for the ethnocentric model of patriotic discourse and the relevant practices of political actors due to the complex composition of the population of most countries of the Union and other internal and geopolitical circumstances. At the same time the commitment to constructive orientation, the absolutization of sovereignty, and the motivation and positions that impede the adoption of balanced integration decisions can be revealed. It is suggested that the national idea of Russia cannot be limited to patriotism and that its de-politicization and de-ideologization cannot be absolutized.