NATIONAL IDEOLOGY IN THE INDEPENDENT STATES OF CENTRAL ASIA AND THE SOUTHERN CAUCASUS: ITS PHENOMENON, SPECIFICS, AND PROSPECTS
Abstract
The political processes underway in the independent Central Eurasian republics call in particular for a detailed analysis of the emergence, functioning, and development of their national ideologies. Throughout world history, no reform, modernization, or democratization during the formation and development of nations could have succeeded, nor can ever succeed, without majority support for a set of clearly formulated and desirable aims and easily grasped ideas. In fact, at all times, states with a national ideology left those states which rejected ideology as part of their policy far behind in every respect. The following fairly succinct comments are intended as an analysis of the past, present, and future of the national-ideological complexes in eight independent republics of Central Asia and the Southern Caucasus (including Georgia); they are compared with what is going on in this respect in other CIS countries (Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine).1 In view of the fundamental role of the state2 and weakness of civil society in practically all the CIS countries, I concentrated on the official position in the particular country, because it is this position, and not the alternative platform3 of the systemic and non-systemic opposition, that has so far attracted the attention of the academic and expert communities.
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Because of the far from unambiguous recent polit-ical regime change in Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, I limited my contemplation of the national ideology in these countries to the forecasts about “the change in format.” I also had to ig-nore similar problems in Moldova due to the still vague so-ciopolitical trends and presence of a separatist region in its territory. Finally, I decided it would not be entirely correct or unbiased to give particular attention to the ideology of national independence in Uzbekistan, my own country.
Certain complicated issues—the correlation be-tween the national idea and state ideology, a common CIS ideology, positive nationalism, and some others—which deserve an independent analysis are only touched upon here in passing.
One such platform was formulated by well-known writer and philosopher Mikhail Weller in his highly popular essay entitled “The National Idea” (2005) (see:
www.weller.ru]). He has pointed out, in particular, that a “national idea cannot be invented, constructed, or formulated out of nothing to be planted in the minds by political technologists. A national idea emerges as an element of nature—this is the country’s shared idea” (see the web site of the Ekho Moskvy radio station [www.echo.msk.ru], 9 October, 2005;
a national idea cannot be invented; it is an element of nature;it is a task related to the psychology of the nation” (see: Kom-somolskaya pravda, 12 October 2005). Great Russian writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn wrote: a national idea should not be invented in the corridors of power or imposed on the nation by force (see: “Napisano krovyu,” Interview with Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Izvestia, 24 July, 2007).
See: E. Rakhmon, Speech at the gala meeting dedicated to the 11th anniversary of Unity Day, 27 June, 2008, avail-able at [www.president.tj].
See: S. Sargsian, Speech at a meeting of representatives of the Armenian diaspora in America, 24 September, 2008,available at [www.president.am].
I.A. Karimov, Speech at the gala meeting dedicated to the 2200th anniversary of Tashkent, 1 September, 2009,available at [www.press-service.uz].
G. Berdymukhammedov, “Economic Strategy of Turkmenistan—Relying on the People for the Sake of the People,”9 May, 2010, available at [www.turkmenistan.gov.tm].
See: A.G. Lukashenko, Speech at the Third All-Belorussia People’s Assembly, 2 March, 2006, available at [www.
resident.gov.by].
See: E. Rakhmon, Speech at a meeting of lecturers and students on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the State University of Law, Business and Politics of Tajikistan, Khujand, 9 September, 2008, available at [www.president.tj].
I. Aliev, Speech at the ceremony dedicated to the 87th birthday of national leader Heydar Aliev and the 6th anni-versary of the Heydar Aliev Foundation, 10 May, 2010, available at [www.president.az].
N. Nazarbaev, Live program with participation of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, available at [www.akorda.kz].
M. Saakashvili, Speech at the Meeting with Members of Supreme Council of Abkhazia, available at [www.president.gov.ge]; idem, “The President of Georgia Congratulated the Georgian Population with New Year,” avail-able at [www.president.gov.ge].
President Medvedev enumerated some of these trends: lack of initiative, lack of new ideas, outstanding unresolved issues, poor quality of public debate, including criticism, and paternalistic attitudes. This is true of the other Soviet successor states (see: D. Mevedev, “Go Russia!” 10 September, 2009, available at [www.kremlin.ru]).
A. Sharifzoda, Z. Sirojov, “Emomali Rakhmon and the Commemorative Year of the Great Imam,” 26 January,2010, available at [www.president.tj].
See: I. Aliev, Speech at the Ceremony dedicated to the 87th birthday of the national leader Heydar Aliev and the 6th anniversary of the Heydar Aliev Foundation.
President of Turkmenistan called on the scholars of the country to work on the state ideology of a New Renais-sance, 15 September, 2010, available at [www.itar-tass.com].
See: Sitting of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan, 29 September, 2008, available at [www.
urkmenistan.gov.tm].
Any discussions of destructive methods should bear in mind that nationalism (the linchpin of any national idea)can manifest itself positively and negatively.
See: S. Sargsian, Speech at a meeting with representatives of the Armenian diaspora of Belgium, Brussels, 5 No-vember, 2008, available at [www.president.am].
S. Sargsian, Speech at a meeting of representatives of the Armenian diaspora in America, 24 September, 2008,available at [www.president.am].
S. Sargsian, The inaugural speech, 9 April 2008 [www.president.am].
E. Rakhmon, Speech at a meeting of lecturers and students on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the State University of Law, Business and Politics of Tajikistan, Khujand, 9 September, 2008, available at [www.president.tj].
Ibidem.
See: A.G. Lukashenko, Address to the Belarusian Nation and the Parliament of the Republic of Belarus, 16 April,2003, available at [www.president.gov.by].
A.G. Lukashenko, Verbatim report of the press conference of the president of Belarus to the regional media of Russia regional media, 2 October, 2009, available at [www.president.gov.by].
See: N. Nazarbaev, Speech of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan N.A. Nazarbaev at the 12th Session of the Assembly of the Peoples of Kazakhstan, available at [www.akorda.kz]. President of Russia Vladimir Putin spoke about competitiveness as a national idea on 12 February, 2004.
N. Nazarbaev, Press Conference of 23 January, 2006, available at [www.akorda.kz].
See: N. Nazarbaev, Live program with participation of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
See: Sitting of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan, 29 September, 2008, available at [www.
urkmenistan.gov.tm].
V. Yanukovich, Address to the Ukrainian People, 2 June, 2010, available at [www.president.gov.ua].
See: V. Yanukovich, Maximum De-politicization of All Departments is a Condition Needed for People to Be Able to Perform Their State Duties. Our Policy should Ensure the Efficiency of Our Work, 12 March, 2010, available at [www.president.gov.ua].
See: Komsomolskaya pravda, 12 October, 2005.
See: E. Rakhmon, Speech at the International Symposium on the Subject “The Great Imam and the Contemporary
World,” 5 October, 2009, available at [www.president.tj].
Neytralniy Turkmenistan, 27 September, 2008.
Here are several convincing examples: the World Literature journal is published in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan (on the initiative of Islam Karimov and Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov) in the national languages (see: Sitting of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan, 4 February, 2011, available at [www.turkmenistan.gov.tm]).
V.V. Putin, Address to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, 26 April, 2007, available at [www.
remlin.ru].
See: S. Sargsian, Speech at the meeting with Russian politologists and heads of mass media, 24 June, 2008, avail-able at [www.president.am].
See: D.A. Medvedev, “On the National Idea,” available at Dmitry Medvedev’s personal site [Medvedev.kremlin.ru].
See: D. Mevedev, “Go Russia!” 10 September, 2009.
V.V. Putin, Address to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, 26 April 2007 [www.kremlin.ru].
See: V.V. Putin, Interview to Izvestia, 14 July, 2000, available at [www.kremlin.ru].
Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin held a working meeting with head of the Re-public of Daghestan M.M. Magomedov, 27 December, 2010, available at [www.premier.gov.ru].
M. Saakashvili, “The President of Georgia Congratulated the Georgian Population with New Year.”
See: A. Michnik, “Natsionalizm: chudovishche probuzhdaetsta,” Vek XX I mir, No. 10, 1990, p. 22.
M. Weller, “Velikiy posledniy shans,” available on the Biblioteka Maksima Moshkova [lib.ru] website.
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