Brezhnev's Nationalism Policy Returns Under New Brand

From RFE/RL (Thanks Ern)

"At a November 22 session of the Federation Council's Commission on Nationality Policy that was also attended by the senators and parliament speakers from individual federation subjects, Regional Development Minister Vladimir Yakovlev presented the revised version of the draft State Nationality Concept unveiled last year, kommersant.ru reported on November 23.

"That initial version contained a formulation referring to the creation of 'a single multinational society in which the Russian people [russky narod] would play a consolidating role.' That formulation triggered outraged protest from non-Russian minorities, and has been watered down in the revised version, which envisages a 'unifying role' for the Russian people in the process of forming 'a single sense of civic awareness [grazhdanstvennost].' President Putin advocated in 2002 revising the Russian nationality policy concept adopted under his predecessor Boris Yeltsin in 1996. That concept was largely authoredby former Deputy Prime Minister Ramazan Abdulatipov, an Avar who is currently Russian ambassador to Tajikistan." LF

***
Says my intern, "the Russians really miss communism." (Ern)
***
This is just as bad as Berezhnev’s policy of 'what nationalisms problem?' The "New Socialist Man" is now the "Single Civic Awareness." Good grief. (PBD)