The fourth issue of Gosudarstvo is wholly devoted to questions of national policy, civilizational identity, and the unity of the multiethnic people of Russia. The issue is timed to coincide with the declaration of 2026 as the Year of Unity of the Peoples of Russia.
The articles in this issue address the following key themes:
Russia as a state-civilization and an alternative to the “melting pot”
The authors emphasize that historical Russia is neither an ethnic state nor the American “melting pot”, in which all cultures are blandly mixed. Unlike Western countries with their colonial traditions and rigid assimilation, Russian civilization developed a tradition of integration, functioning as a “family of families.” In this model, unity is achieved through recognition and organic coexistence of differences. The foundation and “civilizational backbone” that holds this diversity together is consistently Russian culture and the Russian language.
Historical experience and the evolution of national policy
The issue offers an in-depth analysis of the domestic historical experience of state-building:
The Time of Troubles is considered a unique example of networked self-organization of society. In circumstances of total collapse of central authority, citizens—united by a capital of trust and the supreme value of saving the state—were able to create a new system of governance “from below.”
The Soviet period is assessed dialectically. On the one hand, there are colossal achievements in industrialization, education, and the creation of writing systems for small peoples. On the other hand, Bolshevik policies of korenizatsiya (indigenization policy), Leninist constructivism, and the artificial creation of nations (a striking example — Ukraine) planted institutional “mines” that led to the country’s disintegration and the growth of separatism.
The contemporary stage. Having overcome the chaos of the “parade of sovereignties” of the 1990s, modern Russia has constructed a “unified system of public authority” that combines political-legal centralization (uniform standards of life and responsibility) with functional decentralization, granting regions room for maneuver.
Information war and contemporary challenges
A substantial portion of the material is devoted to threats to national security. Today the West conducts a cognitive and hybrid war against Russia, **deliberately seeking to destabilize interethnic and interconfessional relations**, especially in the national republics and border territories. The principal target of informational attacks is the youth. The Ukrainian crisis is presented by the authors as a warped mirror and a tragic example of the consequences of forced assimilation, derussification, and the total deconstruction of historical memory.
Comparative analysis of world models
The articles offer a contrasting comparison of the Russian experience with the policies of other powers:
British colonialism is described as a predatory system based on plunder and the genocide of indigenous peoples (for example, the artificial famine in Bengal that claimed millions of lives). This is set in direct opposition to the Russian strategy of “investing in the peripheries.”
The Chinese approach to “unity in diversity” is built on a rigidly centralized party vertical and colossal infrastructural investment in national regions, but is also associated with assimilation and total digital control over the population. Russian federalism, by contrast, relies on constitutional guarantees, interbudgetary equalization, and a more cautious attitude toward ethnocultural distinctiveness.
Cultural, regional, and everyday dimensions of unity
Russia’s diversity is explored through a variety of spheres:
Regional practices: Representatives of Yakutia and the North Caucasus share successful experiences of conflict resolution, strengthening interethnic peace, and extraordinarily high levels of social consolidation, which are vividly manifested in the mass heroism of representatives of different peoples during the Special Military Operation.
Eurasian synthesis: The historical mutual enrichment of sedentary and nomadic cultures (exemplified by the Cossacks) is analyzed as contributing to Russia’s unique civilizational flexibility.
Cartography as a weapon: The manner in which the production of geographic maps was historically used by empires as an instrument of control, ideological manipulation, and the reprogramming of historical memory is examined.
Gastronomy: Russian cuisine is metaphorically compared to a “vinaigrette” — a unique space of multiculturalism that has organically absorbed culinary techniques of the peoples of the Caucasus, Siberia, and Central Asia.
The problem of the sound environment: An unexpected question of everyday social life is raised — the dominance of loud music (muzon) in public spaces, which leads to the atomization of society and impedes the construction of trusting communications between people.
The principal resource and strength of Russia lie in its ability to preserve its unity without destroying diversity. Traditional values, interethnic harmony, the strong family, and civic patriotism form the civilizational code that allows the country to overcome any crises and confidently build its future.
