Igor Romanov: “The fate of the Caucasus is the fate of all Russia”
Advisor to the director of RISS, doctor of sociological sciences ponders on the problems of the North Caucasus Federal District
- At one of the recent large-scale meetings devoted to the prospects for the development of the North Caucasus, Vladimir Putin stressed that the North Caucasus Federal District lacks coordination in the actions of the authorities. It turns out that such coordination did not work out? As there is no expected breakthrough ...
- Indeed, the jerk did not happen. Strangely enough, but with the strategy that has been embodied all this time in the North Caucasus, there is a certain positive in this. In any case, a number of rather dubious undertakings have not been implemented, like an attempt to organize the resettlement of residents of the North Caucasian republics in other regions of Russia at public expense.
The entire development policy of the NCFD since the formation of the district has focused on ensuring an economic breakthrough. The most key issues - inter-ethnic and in general sociocultural relations - were considered as secondary. This is evidenced by the content of the Strategy for the Socio-Economic Development of the North Caucasian Federal District and the recently adopted State Program.
In general, the dominance of the economic approach to state policy initially determines the deficiency in the development of a country, region, city. And often leads to a socio-cultural catastrophe. Today we see this in the example of European countries, where the population is simply being replaced by people from completely different territories in their cultural structure. We also see this in our country - in favor of the economic interests of business, carriers of an alien culture, in fact, are replacing our indigenous population.
As a rule, with an economic view on social processes, the main thing is lost sight of the person with his spiritual and cultural characteristics. People are more viewed as “productive potential”, “labor resource”. And then it seems to the employer that all the problems that arise in this “resource” are solved simply by the presence of work and wages.
By and large, from an economic point of view it does not matter - “what color is the cat”. The main thing is that the workers have an economic effect. Therefore, representatives of modern business assure us that today it is simply necessary to use the labor of migrants.
The emphasis in the state personnel policy on people with extensive experience in business, in the commercial sector, seems to me to be erroneous. In my opinion, the main task of a state or municipal leader in Russia is to maintain a social order based on historical traditions, on the centuries-old spiritual and cultural foundation. And for this you need to know very well, to notice even minor movements that can lead to a violation of the fundamental foundations. It is rather a protective, restraining, protective function. However, modern managers in power have predominantly a different mindset - such as, as they say, “clip consciousness” aimed at “developing projects”. There is no truly state strategic perception of reality. Is this a strategy - a set of economic projects for the next fifteen years?
Not businessmen should be engaged in public affairs in Russia. The country today, more than ever, needs people who have a state mind and are inclined to serve the Fatherland. First of all, such people are needed here - in the Caucasus.
- Many political scientists speak about the close change of the plenipotentiary plenipotentiary Alexander Khloponin, pointing precisely to the lack of economic positive. Where are the investment flows, where is the promised development of the social sphere? Not so long ago, teachers of the capital of Pyatigorsk district were detained wages. People have found a simple explanation - the money goes to the many holidays, the dusting of the eyes. In this connection, the attitude to the authorities - the city and the district - is rather negative than positive.
- Our problems are not only in salaries and investments. Until we change our way of life, we will not try to become normal Russian people living in Russia, I mean Russians in the spiritual and cultural sense, we will not have a normal salary either. Media writes that budget money is being stolen. The President recently announced a figure - 6,5 billion rubles - the embezzlement of budget funds in the North Caucasus in 2013. Of course, this is largely due to significant injections of federal funds into a number of North Caucasian republics, which often becomes a temptation for local officials. True, restructuring of the budget is currently underway, financial flows in the republic will significantly decrease. After all, since the twenties of the last century, we have been pumping excessive funds into the “development of ethnic autonomies,” of national minorities and small nations. At the same time, the state-forming Russian population sometimes does not even have normal living conditions.
However, whatever punitive measures the state develops, no matter how hard the laws are tightened, in relation to state and municipal servants, in the absence of internal spiritual and moral restraints, theft and corruption will be exacerbated.
As a spell, we repeat the word "investment." Western economy is a role model. But look at this example, in which we equate our economy, in which our businessmen, civil servants and even teachers who are not paid are equal. The West - the countries of Europe, the USA are becoming today a place where humanity simply degenerates, people turn into real moral monsters. “Same-sex marriages”, “juvenile justice”, “soft drugs” are all “normal” and already legitimate elements of the European way of life. And in our schools, teachers impose all this nonsense ...
The point is certainly not only in the plenipotentiary. After all, it is the same as most of us - the product of our entire materialistic system, which methodically cemented during the Soviet era and continues to affect us even now in its already decomposed state. If, as you said, the “main change in the Caucasus” will take place in the same vein, with the selection of personnel from the “real sector of the economy” who have gone through a “good business school” and are guided by materialistic values, the situation is unlikely to be completely different.
- The situation with terrorism, extremism and corruption is far from stable. For investors, the North Caucasus remains a risk zone for this very reason. Are changes possible? What do you need to do?
- Terrorism and extremism in the North Caucasus are a consequence of the weakening here of the foundations of Russian statehood. Not the enemy is strong, but we are weak. The path to strengthening Russian statehood does not lie through investment.
Historically, the foundation of Russia is Orthodoxy and the Russian people. And in the Caucasus, peace and harmony existed when there was a solid binding core - the Russian population. Today the Russians are leaving, being forced out, squeezed out. The result is discord among the nations living here. Increasingly, we hear about conflicts already arising between different ethnic groups of the North Caucasus republics. By the way, today's ethnic problems are a product of the very same Soviet policy. Then the boundaries between the regions on a national basis were arranged. And then the Russians knocked out their main support - Orthodoxy.
But the positions of Islam were much stronger when there was a strong state-forming principle in the Caucasus - the Russian Orthodox people. Strong "walls" of the Russian Empire, based on the Orthodox foundation, created reliable protection for traditional Islam in the Russian Caucasus.
It is obvious that today it is necessary to “invest” in spirituality, in the revival of the Russian Orthodox core. For this, the Russians need serious support from the state. Of course, you need support and economic. But you do not need to “cry” about additional funding. Rather, we need state guarantees for those who are ready to engage in production in the Caucasus. For example, our Russian farmers, peasants in the Stavropol region need guaranteed product sales markets. The state should provide it. In order to restore order in the south today, the government must show that it is the most important territory of the country. And for this, first of all, it is necessary to protect the interests of the Russian population - as the main guarantor of stability in these territories.
But the requirements must be presented not only to the state. We must respect ourselves. First of all, we must become Russian in spirit. And this is possible in the Russian Orthodox Church. With the spiritual nourishment of the Church, it is necessary to revive parish communities.
It is necessary that the self-organizing mechanisms of Russians and all peoples who are interested in peace in the Caucasus come into action. Need to do pre-draft preparation for the army. There are initiative people, but it is necessary that the whole process be systematized. For these people to be in the Church - after all, only there is a connection with the generations of our ancestors. There, the most vivid examples of the defense of our Fatherland are Alexander Nevsky, Dimitri Donskoy, Ilya of Murom, Theodore Ushakov, our contemporary - the martyr Yevgeny Rodionov ...
It cannot be ruled out that very severe trials are waiting for us pretty soon. And to leave, nowhere to run and there is no need. To save Russia, mastered by our ancestors of the Caucasus, you need to survive.
- There is a point of view that after the Olympics in Sochi, the district will face global changes - both in the territorial sense (borders), in the economic and in the political sense. Your point of view?
- Global changes have been happening for a long time. The October 1999 coup of 1917 was the most global change for all peoples of Russia. As a result, we are now in such an unpleasant situation. In the USSR, after all, essentially the anti-Russian policy was carried out. The emphasis was placed on the support of national minorities, and the overwhelming majority of the country's population — Russians — did not even have their legal status. Today this tradition is preserved.
Unfortunately, in the regions of the North Caucasus, the longing for the Soviet time is strong. This is understandable, because then it was much calmer here. But all this was due to the fact that the fortress of the Russian core, which was formed in the Russian Empire, was preserved. Of course, the hard “hand of the party” maintained the stability of the situation. However, everything was built on repressive and punitive principles and of course could not hold on for a long time. What we have seen.
Before the revolution, most of the territories of today's North Caucasus District was a single area - Terek. That is, there were no “ethnic autonomies” that emerged with the advent of the Bolsheviks in power. A huge role in the consolidation of Russian statehood in the Caucasus was played by our Cossacks, who were also practically destroyed by the Bolsheviks.
Now in expert circles there is an opinion about the need to revise the administrative and territorial boundaries, but this should not happen according to national criteria. Although the republican elites are not interested in this.
A reduction in budgetary injections in the republics will surely cause outrage among the elites. Moreover, the efforts of our geopolitical opponents, which stimulate extremist sentiments in the region. Of course the socio-political situation here can be exacerbated. It can be assumed that after the Olympics, the processes in the Caucasus will go at an accelerated pace.
At the same time, the experience of holding the APEC summit — another one along with the Olympiad “breakthrough” project — showed that there are no fundamental changes. After the summit, it is still under construction. More than a year has already passed, and the thirty-kilometer section of the strategic route connecting Vladivostok and Khabarovsk is still in emergency condition. The road had to pass before the summit. And in general, all these construction projects had little effect on indigenous Far Easterners. The built infrastructure is more in demand by the international business community. Vladivostok has been turned into some kind of international office center with a glittering facade and dirty backyards. The common people in the cities of Primorye live in the same shabby five-story buildings with broken asphalt in the courtyards.
Many Far Easterners, as well as residents of the south of Russia, have already lost the opportunity for self-development, for self-organization. The argument “the state has abandoned us” became the main excuse for very widespread occupations - speculation and theft of natural resources. By the way, this activity is more often called “business”. It is incredibly painful to look at this degradation of ours, even in the Caucasus, even in the Far East.
At the end of September, I visited the graves of our ancestors on the Greek island of Lemnos. There are those who left in the twenties of the last century from the Crimea, along with Wrangel. Among them were a lot of Kuban and Terek Cossacks, people from our Caucasus. Then, in the twentieth year, as a result of the Bolshevik Revolution, the Russian people found themselves on the rocky, practically lifeless shore of the island of Lemnos in the Aegean Sea. There they landed our "allies" in the First World War - the British and French.
It is shocking that in an almost lifeless place, where there is no firewood or fresh water, thousands of our people - representatives of many estates - were able to organize themselves. Could establish their life on this island. And they lived, worked, served for several years. Then they had to go further and dissipate in foreign countries. But these people were with God. They prayed, they even went under difficult conditions to churches that were set up on the island ...
And in the Caucasus and the Pacific Russia came with God! After all, the first thing our ancestors in the new place put the church. That was the real Russian! As long as we do not become like many generations of our wonderful ancestors, we can hardly hope for any global changes for the better.
- The sphere of interethnic and interfaith relations is also far from stability. There is an offensive of informal Islam, there is no support by the traditional authorities in the Stavropol region, conflicts continue on the basis of nationalism ... Is it possible to keep silent about it? Russians leave the region, in three regions the percentage of their numbers is below 3%. What could be the way out?
- Interethnic and interfaith relations are not just a separate sphere. This is the main subject of our national strategy. However, the current legalization of this strategy follows the path of multiculturalism and is aimed at creating an artificial social construct - the so-called “Russian nation”, invented by a small group of experts. This design implies the rejection of the historically formed spiritual and cultural core in favor of a certain “ethnocultural cocktail”. Although in the West multiculturalism did not justify itself at all, in our country this area is being strongly imposed on the country's leadership.
Today, the indigenous people of Russia need a national strategy based on traditional core values that have been formed over the centuries. And this strategy should be focused primarily on the revival of the Russian socio-cultural core. On this depends the well-being of all peoples inhabiting our country. This determines the strength of Russian statehood in the Caucasus and, accordingly, the possibility of suppressing and eradicating extremist sentiments.
Today, the extremist actions of representatives of Islamist movements, as well as the spreading nationalist contagion, are due to the lack of a coherent national policy. Today's “Rodnovers”, which allegedly defend the “interests of Russians”, are the same degenerative direction in the present Russian movement, as Wahhabism in Islam.
If now the state, at least at the information level, will adequately assess the existing trends in interethnic relations in the Caucasus, this will already be a serious step towards strengthening the foundations of Russian statehood.
- So is there a chance for the North Caucasus to develop and make a breakthrough, even if it is forward movement, or will we with reaped benefits with huge potential? What is this mystery of the Caucasus? Laziness, corruption web, external and internal brakes - are they real or artificial? How and where to move, how to move a heavy cart?
- The North Caucasus is one of the key territories of Russia, along with Siberia and the Far East. This is the most important geopolitical node, a powerful resource potential. The attention of the entire Western world, all of our opponents and detractors is directed here. It is necessary to realize that, faced with various threats here, we are opposing the forces that are trying to destroy Russia. And this destruction is conducted primarily on the spiritual level. The Caucasus, through various informational and ideological tools, is pulling out of the historically formed spiritual and cultural space of our country. And sometimes, involuntarily, we begin to perceive these lands as something separate, very special. But we must remember that statehood here was formed only with the arrival of Russia. Separate ethnic groups and nationalities that lived in these territories, only as part of the Russian Empire, found a common vector of their civilizational development - development along the lines of the Russian civilization.
And today it is necessary with all our might, including all state and personal capabilities, to embark on the ascending path of Russian civilization.
- It is sad that very little attention is paid to domestic policy in the district. There is no desire to change anything ...
- A number of experts argue that the creation of the North Caucasus region is an attempt to turn around to our successful pre-revolutionary experience in the Caucasus. However, this is an erroneous statement. After all, the real borders between the regions remain the same. The same criterion of administrative-territorial division has been preserved - on a national basis. There was no real appeal of the authorities to the most healthy forces in the Caucasus, the Russians did not receive any expressed support.
Today requires a deeper approach. Probably, the critical situation in the region justifies the most rapid reversal of state policy towards the revival of the Russian Orthodox core here, the formation of the institution of the Governor-General and a single administrative-territorial unit, like the Terek region, which existed in historical Russia.
Experience shows that the institute of the general governorship in the most strategic areas of our state allows us to effectively solve not only social and administrative, but also defense issues on the ground. It is obvious that in such an important area, state management should be carried out by a professional who has not only state-political, but also military-team experience. The fate of the Caucasus is the fate of all of Russia. Of course, this should be a man of national importance. Not a curator, but a real governor-general, a state leader who loves and knows Russia, its spiritual roots.
But the question is, who can such a person rely on? Are we ready today to break away from our petty concerns? From the already familiar to us of this consumer residence? For most of us, the obligatory elements of happiness are the refrigerator, the car and “House-2” on TV ...
And today in Russia, a whole layer of managers is needed - not Western-managerial leaven, but people ready for self-sacrifice for the sake of their Fatherland, who perceive power as the hardest Cross ... But such people are unlikely to emerge by mechanical selection, as a result of lobbying Probably the most terrible time, which, apparently, is not far off, will nominate such people.
The conversation led Elena Evdokimova
Igor Anatolievich Romanov - Advisor to the Director of RISS, Doctor of Sociological Sciences. Born in 1971, in Blagoveshchensk, Amur Region, graduated from the history department of the UGPI, RAGS under the President of the Russian Federation, the Academy of Management of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. Present post before joining RISI - Head of the Department for Domestic Policy of the Presidential Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District. He is the author of several monographs and articles, including the book “Strategy of Eastern Territories”. Led the North Caucasus Center RISI.
- At one of the recent large-scale meetings devoted to the prospects for the development of the North Caucasus, Vladimir Putin stressed that the North Caucasus Federal District lacks coordination in the actions of the authorities. It turns out that such coordination did not work out? As there is no expected breakthrough ...- Indeed, the jerk did not happen. Strangely enough, but with the strategy that has been embodied all this time in the North Caucasus, there is a certain positive in this. In any case, a number of rather dubious undertakings have not been implemented, like an attempt to organize the resettlement of residents of the North Caucasian republics in other regions of Russia at public expense.
The entire development policy of the NCFD since the formation of the district has focused on ensuring an economic breakthrough. The most key issues - inter-ethnic and in general sociocultural relations - were considered as secondary. This is evidenced by the content of the Strategy for the Socio-Economic Development of the North Caucasian Federal District and the recently adopted State Program.
In general, the dominance of the economic approach to state policy initially determines the deficiency in the development of a country, region, city. And often leads to a socio-cultural catastrophe. Today we see this in the example of European countries, where the population is simply being replaced by people from completely different territories in their cultural structure. We also see this in our country - in favor of the economic interests of business, carriers of an alien culture, in fact, are replacing our indigenous population.
As a rule, with an economic view on social processes, the main thing is lost sight of the person with his spiritual and cultural characteristics. People are more viewed as “productive potential”, “labor resource”. And then it seems to the employer that all the problems that arise in this “resource” are solved simply by the presence of work and wages.
By and large, from an economic point of view it does not matter - “what color is the cat”. The main thing is that the workers have an economic effect. Therefore, representatives of modern business assure us that today it is simply necessary to use the labor of migrants.
The emphasis in the state personnel policy on people with extensive experience in business, in the commercial sector, seems to me to be erroneous. In my opinion, the main task of a state or municipal leader in Russia is to maintain a social order based on historical traditions, on the centuries-old spiritual and cultural foundation. And for this you need to know very well, to notice even minor movements that can lead to a violation of the fundamental foundations. It is rather a protective, restraining, protective function. However, modern managers in power have predominantly a different mindset - such as, as they say, “clip consciousness” aimed at “developing projects”. There is no truly state strategic perception of reality. Is this a strategy - a set of economic projects for the next fifteen years?
Not businessmen should be engaged in public affairs in Russia. The country today, more than ever, needs people who have a state mind and are inclined to serve the Fatherland. First of all, such people are needed here - in the Caucasus.
- Many political scientists speak about the close change of the plenipotentiary plenipotentiary Alexander Khloponin, pointing precisely to the lack of economic positive. Where are the investment flows, where is the promised development of the social sphere? Not so long ago, teachers of the capital of Pyatigorsk district were detained wages. People have found a simple explanation - the money goes to the many holidays, the dusting of the eyes. In this connection, the attitude to the authorities - the city and the district - is rather negative than positive.
- Our problems are not only in salaries and investments. Until we change our way of life, we will not try to become normal Russian people living in Russia, I mean Russians in the spiritual and cultural sense, we will not have a normal salary either. Media writes that budget money is being stolen. The President recently announced a figure - 6,5 billion rubles - the embezzlement of budget funds in the North Caucasus in 2013. Of course, this is largely due to significant injections of federal funds into a number of North Caucasian republics, which often becomes a temptation for local officials. True, restructuring of the budget is currently underway, financial flows in the republic will significantly decrease. After all, since the twenties of the last century, we have been pumping excessive funds into the “development of ethnic autonomies,” of national minorities and small nations. At the same time, the state-forming Russian population sometimes does not even have normal living conditions.
However, whatever punitive measures the state develops, no matter how hard the laws are tightened, in relation to state and municipal servants, in the absence of internal spiritual and moral restraints, theft and corruption will be exacerbated.
As a spell, we repeat the word "investment." Western economy is a role model. But look at this example, in which we equate our economy, in which our businessmen, civil servants and even teachers who are not paid are equal. The West - the countries of Europe, the USA are becoming today a place where humanity simply degenerates, people turn into real moral monsters. “Same-sex marriages”, “juvenile justice”, “soft drugs” are all “normal” and already legitimate elements of the European way of life. And in our schools, teachers impose all this nonsense ...
The point is certainly not only in the plenipotentiary. After all, it is the same as most of us - the product of our entire materialistic system, which methodically cemented during the Soviet era and continues to affect us even now in its already decomposed state. If, as you said, the “main change in the Caucasus” will take place in the same vein, with the selection of personnel from the “real sector of the economy” who have gone through a “good business school” and are guided by materialistic values, the situation is unlikely to be completely different.
- The situation with terrorism, extremism and corruption is far from stable. For investors, the North Caucasus remains a risk zone for this very reason. Are changes possible? What do you need to do?
- Terrorism and extremism in the North Caucasus are a consequence of the weakening here of the foundations of Russian statehood. Not the enemy is strong, but we are weak. The path to strengthening Russian statehood does not lie through investment.
Historically, the foundation of Russia is Orthodoxy and the Russian people. And in the Caucasus, peace and harmony existed when there was a solid binding core - the Russian population. Today the Russians are leaving, being forced out, squeezed out. The result is discord among the nations living here. Increasingly, we hear about conflicts already arising between different ethnic groups of the North Caucasus republics. By the way, today's ethnic problems are a product of the very same Soviet policy. Then the boundaries between the regions on a national basis were arranged. And then the Russians knocked out their main support - Orthodoxy.
But the positions of Islam were much stronger when there was a strong state-forming principle in the Caucasus - the Russian Orthodox people. Strong "walls" of the Russian Empire, based on the Orthodox foundation, created reliable protection for traditional Islam in the Russian Caucasus.
It is obvious that today it is necessary to “invest” in spirituality, in the revival of the Russian Orthodox core. For this, the Russians need serious support from the state. Of course, you need support and economic. But you do not need to “cry” about additional funding. Rather, we need state guarantees for those who are ready to engage in production in the Caucasus. For example, our Russian farmers, peasants in the Stavropol region need guaranteed product sales markets. The state should provide it. In order to restore order in the south today, the government must show that it is the most important territory of the country. And for this, first of all, it is necessary to protect the interests of the Russian population - as the main guarantor of stability in these territories.
But the requirements must be presented not only to the state. We must respect ourselves. First of all, we must become Russian in spirit. And this is possible in the Russian Orthodox Church. With the spiritual nourishment of the Church, it is necessary to revive parish communities.
It is necessary that the self-organizing mechanisms of Russians and all peoples who are interested in peace in the Caucasus come into action. Need to do pre-draft preparation for the army. There are initiative people, but it is necessary that the whole process be systematized. For these people to be in the Church - after all, only there is a connection with the generations of our ancestors. There, the most vivid examples of the defense of our Fatherland are Alexander Nevsky, Dimitri Donskoy, Ilya of Murom, Theodore Ushakov, our contemporary - the martyr Yevgeny Rodionov ...
It cannot be ruled out that very severe trials are waiting for us pretty soon. And to leave, nowhere to run and there is no need. To save Russia, mastered by our ancestors of the Caucasus, you need to survive.
- There is a point of view that after the Olympics in Sochi, the district will face global changes - both in the territorial sense (borders), in the economic and in the political sense. Your point of view?
- Global changes have been happening for a long time. The October 1999 coup of 1917 was the most global change for all peoples of Russia. As a result, we are now in such an unpleasant situation. In the USSR, after all, essentially the anti-Russian policy was carried out. The emphasis was placed on the support of national minorities, and the overwhelming majority of the country's population — Russians — did not even have their legal status. Today this tradition is preserved.
Unfortunately, in the regions of the North Caucasus, the longing for the Soviet time is strong. This is understandable, because then it was much calmer here. But all this was due to the fact that the fortress of the Russian core, which was formed in the Russian Empire, was preserved. Of course, the hard “hand of the party” maintained the stability of the situation. However, everything was built on repressive and punitive principles and of course could not hold on for a long time. What we have seen.
Before the revolution, most of the territories of today's North Caucasus District was a single area - Terek. That is, there were no “ethnic autonomies” that emerged with the advent of the Bolsheviks in power. A huge role in the consolidation of Russian statehood in the Caucasus was played by our Cossacks, who were also practically destroyed by the Bolsheviks.
Now in expert circles there is an opinion about the need to revise the administrative and territorial boundaries, but this should not happen according to national criteria. Although the republican elites are not interested in this.
A reduction in budgetary injections in the republics will surely cause outrage among the elites. Moreover, the efforts of our geopolitical opponents, which stimulate extremist sentiments in the region. Of course the socio-political situation here can be exacerbated. It can be assumed that after the Olympics, the processes in the Caucasus will go at an accelerated pace.
At the same time, the experience of holding the APEC summit — another one along with the Olympiad “breakthrough” project — showed that there are no fundamental changes. After the summit, it is still under construction. More than a year has already passed, and the thirty-kilometer section of the strategic route connecting Vladivostok and Khabarovsk is still in emergency condition. The road had to pass before the summit. And in general, all these construction projects had little effect on indigenous Far Easterners. The built infrastructure is more in demand by the international business community. Vladivostok has been turned into some kind of international office center with a glittering facade and dirty backyards. The common people in the cities of Primorye live in the same shabby five-story buildings with broken asphalt in the courtyards.
Many Far Easterners, as well as residents of the south of Russia, have already lost the opportunity for self-development, for self-organization. The argument “the state has abandoned us” became the main excuse for very widespread occupations - speculation and theft of natural resources. By the way, this activity is more often called “business”. It is incredibly painful to look at this degradation of ours, even in the Caucasus, even in the Far East.
At the end of September, I visited the graves of our ancestors on the Greek island of Lemnos. There are those who left in the twenties of the last century from the Crimea, along with Wrangel. Among them were a lot of Kuban and Terek Cossacks, people from our Caucasus. Then, in the twentieth year, as a result of the Bolshevik Revolution, the Russian people found themselves on the rocky, practically lifeless shore of the island of Lemnos in the Aegean Sea. There they landed our "allies" in the First World War - the British and French.
It is shocking that in an almost lifeless place, where there is no firewood or fresh water, thousands of our people - representatives of many estates - were able to organize themselves. Could establish their life on this island. And they lived, worked, served for several years. Then they had to go further and dissipate in foreign countries. But these people were with God. They prayed, they even went under difficult conditions to churches that were set up on the island ...
And in the Caucasus and the Pacific Russia came with God! After all, the first thing our ancestors in the new place put the church. That was the real Russian! As long as we do not become like many generations of our wonderful ancestors, we can hardly hope for any global changes for the better.
- The sphere of interethnic and interfaith relations is also far from stability. There is an offensive of informal Islam, there is no support by the traditional authorities in the Stavropol region, conflicts continue on the basis of nationalism ... Is it possible to keep silent about it? Russians leave the region, in three regions the percentage of their numbers is below 3%. What could be the way out?
- Interethnic and interfaith relations are not just a separate sphere. This is the main subject of our national strategy. However, the current legalization of this strategy follows the path of multiculturalism and is aimed at creating an artificial social construct - the so-called “Russian nation”, invented by a small group of experts. This design implies the rejection of the historically formed spiritual and cultural core in favor of a certain “ethnocultural cocktail”. Although in the West multiculturalism did not justify itself at all, in our country this area is being strongly imposed on the country's leadership.
Today, the indigenous people of Russia need a national strategy based on traditional core values that have been formed over the centuries. And this strategy should be focused primarily on the revival of the Russian socio-cultural core. On this depends the well-being of all peoples inhabiting our country. This determines the strength of Russian statehood in the Caucasus and, accordingly, the possibility of suppressing and eradicating extremist sentiments.
Today, the extremist actions of representatives of Islamist movements, as well as the spreading nationalist contagion, are due to the lack of a coherent national policy. Today's “Rodnovers”, which allegedly defend the “interests of Russians”, are the same degenerative direction in the present Russian movement, as Wahhabism in Islam.
If now the state, at least at the information level, will adequately assess the existing trends in interethnic relations in the Caucasus, this will already be a serious step towards strengthening the foundations of Russian statehood.
- So is there a chance for the North Caucasus to develop and make a breakthrough, even if it is forward movement, or will we with reaped benefits with huge potential? What is this mystery of the Caucasus? Laziness, corruption web, external and internal brakes - are they real or artificial? How and where to move, how to move a heavy cart?
- The North Caucasus is one of the key territories of Russia, along with Siberia and the Far East. This is the most important geopolitical node, a powerful resource potential. The attention of the entire Western world, all of our opponents and detractors is directed here. It is necessary to realize that, faced with various threats here, we are opposing the forces that are trying to destroy Russia. And this destruction is conducted primarily on the spiritual level. The Caucasus, through various informational and ideological tools, is pulling out of the historically formed spiritual and cultural space of our country. And sometimes, involuntarily, we begin to perceive these lands as something separate, very special. But we must remember that statehood here was formed only with the arrival of Russia. Separate ethnic groups and nationalities that lived in these territories, only as part of the Russian Empire, found a common vector of their civilizational development - development along the lines of the Russian civilization.
And today it is necessary with all our might, including all state and personal capabilities, to embark on the ascending path of Russian civilization.
- It is sad that very little attention is paid to domestic policy in the district. There is no desire to change anything ...
- A number of experts argue that the creation of the North Caucasus region is an attempt to turn around to our successful pre-revolutionary experience in the Caucasus. However, this is an erroneous statement. After all, the real borders between the regions remain the same. The same criterion of administrative-territorial division has been preserved - on a national basis. There was no real appeal of the authorities to the most healthy forces in the Caucasus, the Russians did not receive any expressed support.
Today requires a deeper approach. Probably, the critical situation in the region justifies the most rapid reversal of state policy towards the revival of the Russian Orthodox core here, the formation of the institution of the Governor-General and a single administrative-territorial unit, like the Terek region, which existed in historical Russia.
Experience shows that the institute of the general governorship in the most strategic areas of our state allows us to effectively solve not only social and administrative, but also defense issues on the ground. It is obvious that in such an important area, state management should be carried out by a professional who has not only state-political, but also military-team experience. The fate of the Caucasus is the fate of all of Russia. Of course, this should be a man of national importance. Not a curator, but a real governor-general, a state leader who loves and knows Russia, its spiritual roots.
But the question is, who can such a person rely on? Are we ready today to break away from our petty concerns? From the already familiar to us of this consumer residence? For most of us, the obligatory elements of happiness are the refrigerator, the car and “House-2” on TV ...
And today in Russia, a whole layer of managers is needed - not Western-managerial leaven, but people ready for self-sacrifice for the sake of their Fatherland, who perceive power as the hardest Cross ... But such people are unlikely to emerge by mechanical selection, as a result of lobbying Probably the most terrible time, which, apparently, is not far off, will nominate such people.
The conversation led Elena Evdokimova
Igor Anatolievich Romanov - Advisor to the Director of RISS, Doctor of Sociological Sciences. Born in 1971, in Blagoveshchensk, Amur Region, graduated from the history department of the UGPI, RAGS under the President of the Russian Federation, the Academy of Management of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. Present post before joining RISI - Head of the Department for Domestic Policy of the Presidential Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District. He is the author of several monographs and articles, including the book “Strategy of Eastern Territories”. Led the North Caucasus Center RISI.
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