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| Russia’s Future: Nation or Civilization? |
Igor Zevelev
To build a real civic identity, a nation must have legitimate and, desirably, historically grounded borders, as well as stable and effective state institutions. The all-Russian nation within the present borders of the Russian Federation is young, unstable and weak. Regular elections, political parties, common social and economic problems, and politics could gradually become a shell for a new political nation. |
| Tradition Breaks Reform |
Leonid Sedov
Russian society tends to form tiers of mafias through the actions of the principles of hierarchy and rank-worship on the one hand, and adolescent group solidarity on the other, with the upper-ruling mafia as the occupational force. |
| A Different View on the European Anniversary |
Fyodor Lukyanov
Europe recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of the anti-Communist revolution that put an end to the division of the world into two ideological blocs. The events of 1989 opened a new chapter in global politics; however, even two decades later, the full content of this chapter remains unclear. |
| No Lull in Sight |
Fyodor Lukyanov, Editor-in-Chief
There has been no traditional summertime lull in Russian politics this year. The breath of the crisis is felt everywhere. In Russia, it forces the government to take preventive measures – many analysts predict a hot autumn prone with social problems. But in the international arena, new opportunities are opening up, which Moscow does not want to miss. |
| Words and Deeds |
Alexander Ignatenko
The thirty years that have passed since the beginning of the Soviet Union’s Afghan campaign have made Washington even more confident that it can use Islam as a factor of international politics. After the Afghan war U.S. allies that had participated in it began to create in droves Muslim extremist and terrorist groups to serve their own international purposes. |
| Is “Constructive Nationalism” Possible? |
Leokadia Drobizheva
The interest in the phenomenon of nationalism has again increased in the world. Experts and politicians are trying to define various types of nationalism and to understand the difference between ethnic nationalism and civic nationalism, and what potential the latter type of nationalism has. Obviously, ethnic nationalism is not gone. |
| Transition to Uncertainty |
Fyodor Lukianov, Editor-in-Chief
The global crisis is being discussed so much that there seems to be no aspect left that has not been analyzed in depth. |
| A Nation-State or a State-Nation? |
Alexei Miller
Nobody knows what may happen if the Ukrainian policy continues developing along the nation-state course. For the more than eight million people who consider themselves to be Russians, the important thing is not the change to Ukrainian identity, but the loss of living comfortably in case they maintain their Russian identity. |
| Two Crises on the Way to Reshaping the World |
Fyodor Lukyanov, Editor-in-Chief
Two crises have occurred one after the other in the past few months that have had a significant impact on Russian foreign policy. The Russian-Georgian war in August and the upheavals on global financial markets in September and October are not related. Yet both events, each in its own way, have contributed to the formulation by Russia of its national interests. One can say that the two crises have set a conceptual framework of interests, defining a vector for the indispensable and boundaries for the possible. |
| Incomplete Centralization |
Olga Tynyanova
The federal authorities have done much in recent years to strengthen the unity and territorial stability of the Russian Federation. However, the institutional and legislative guarantees for the country’s territorial integrity are quite unreliable. If an unforeseen political weakening of the federal center occurs, there is a high likelihood that the country’s federative structure will be shattered. |
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