IS RUSSIA AN EMPIRE OR A NATION-STATE? Book Review: Achkasov V. A. Russian Dilemma: Empire or Nation State: Monograph. Moscow, Yurayt Publishing House, 2019, 373 p.

Abstract

In the review of the book by Valery Achkasov, devoted to the study of ethno-political processes in Russia from the moment of its transformation into an empire to the present day, an attempt is made to comprehend the views of both the author and other scholars on significant ethno-political problems in regard to the correlation of an empire and a nation state, the formation of the Russian nation and Russian imperial nationalism, the influence of the Russian revolution on national politics, as well as on the Soviet experience of nation building. According to the reviewer, the author convincingly revealed the causes of the crisis of national identity in modern Russia and the peculiarities of regional identities, due to the characteristics of the status of the region as an integral part of the nation state. The author’s position, which casts doubt on the orientation of the Russian post-communist state towards the production of democratic and civic identities is of scientific interest as well as arguing for the promotion and actualization of identities, both ethnic and those oriented on the principle of loyalty to the state. Valery Achkasov’s conclusions are significant concerning the need to replace the model of interethnic interaction with the civil-political model of national integration and that Russia is in the process of forming a nation-state, which acts as the final result of the development of social integration.