‘Russian Civic Nation’ Concept to Be Delivered to Putin Four Weeks Late

Paul Goble

            Staunton, August 3 – In yet another indication of controversies surrounding  the concept paper for a new law on  strengthening the unity of the civic Russian nation, Leokadiya Drobizheva says that it will be presented to President Vladimir Putin on August 28 (nazaccent.ru/content/24917-koncepciyu-zakona-o-edinstve-nacii-predstavyat.html).

            That is four weeks later than the August 1 deadline Putin himself set when he called for the drafting of this concept paper and the latest indication that the entire process remains mired in controversy (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2017/06/civic-russian-nation-now-defined-in.html).

            Drobizheva, who is a member of the drafting group and head of the Center for Research on Inter-Ethnic Relations at the Moscow Institute of Sociology, told the Nazaccent portal that “the conception is practically ready: it has passed through discussion in varioius stages both in the republics and in the federal districts.”

            But she said that discussions continue on the glossary of terms employed in the concept paper and expected to be enshrined in the new law. Among these are “the civic Russian nation,” “civic identity,” “ethnos,” “inter-ethnic accord,” “international relations,” “and others.”  All of these are controversial (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2017/05/proposed-civic-russian-nation-is.html and windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2017/03/putin-tishkov-push-to-define-civic.html).