The fall of an empire, the birth of a nation

"The 1990s have been a decade of construction and consolidation of new national identities in the new independent states in the territory of the former Soviet Union. For a variety of reasons, this process of identity-building has been more laborious for Russia, the empire-building nation, than for most of the other former Soviet republics." "This volume studies the process of identity-building in Russia from several different points of departure. The authors study in detail such crucial questions as the role of Orthodox Christianity, the evolution of the basic symbols of the Russian state, the ambiguous nature of the national identities constructed during the Soviet era, the significance of the extreme right in shaping the new national consciousness, the identities of the national minorities in the territory of the Russian Federation, and the changes and continuities in the fundamental patterns of perceiving and thinking about the nation in contemporary Russia." "The book is essential reading for advanced students of Russian and East European studies as well as a source of insight for all those who wish to gain a deeper understanding of the historical forces and continuities, the not seldom contradictory undercurrents, that shape the identity and patterns of conduct of Russia as a geopolitical actor today."--Jacket.