A nation is a political community imagined as essentially limited but sovereign. In the general concept, Belarus and Russia are highly bound together, which can be seen from the in-depth development of the Russia-Belarus alliance and Belarus' firm support for the special military operations launched by Russia. In fact, Belarus is also seeking to build an independent nation-state, which is the development path of Belarus. Of course, there are many problems in the construction of the Belarusian nation-state. For example, the unique civilization development process has not only shaped the characteristics of Belarusian ethnic diversity and separation, but also the Belarusian regime is facing a political crisis caused by the legacy of the Soviet era. These problems force the Belarusian regime to work hard to bridge differences and eliminate tensions in order to maintain national unity, sovereignty and independence when building a nation-state and responding to crises.
1. Geographic and historical characteristics of the Belarusian nation
Belarusian national culture is an integral part of European civilization, but its unique geographical location and development history make it characterized by diversity and poor national unity:
On the one hand, the geographical location enables the national culture to "integrate hundreds of schools of thought". Dnieper River-Dvina River Culture, Tattoo Culture, Milograd Culture, Northern Coastal Culture and other civilizations appeared alternately. The combination of the cultural traditions of the Baltic tribes and the Slavic cultural traditions builds the foundation of Belarusian culture. Today's Belarusian nation is the descendant of the East Slavic ethnic group that has the dialect characteristics of the ancient Russian period but developed independently away from the national main body.
On the other hand, White had been under the rule of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Czarist Russia, the Soviet Union and other empires for a long time, but due to the tradition of local autonomy, it formed an independent national consciousness. Its development process has kept nation-building and state-building on different tracks for a long time, leading to a misalignment between national cognition and national identity. This issue was not resolved during the two independent nation-building movements. On the contrary, after Lu came to power, the White House was gradually built into a special case of a European nation state. Its national characteristics were destroyed, the domestic nationalist movement was suppressed, and the order system and values of the Soviet period were relatively intact. The long-covered problem of the asynchrony between national cognition and national identity finally broke out in the political crisis of 2020.
2. Problems in the construction of the Belarusian nation-state
In the 21st century, the world once again entered an era of great changes. The revival of nationalist trends promoted the awakening of the Belarusian national consciousness and brought opportunities for the modernization of the nation-state. encounter, but we must also face the difficulties of nation-state construction caused by its own characteristics, which mainly include:
(1) The integration of old national elements and the reshaping of modern national concepts
The rich history of cultural development makes the elements of the Belarusian nation complex. The two unsuccessful nationalist movements at the beginning and end of the 20th century showed that the largest ethnic group in a certain region failed to construct an independent nation-state because it failed to form a modern nation. Therefore, how to integrate and reconstruct old national concepts such as the fictional concept of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Orthodox Christian beliefs, and memories of the Soviet Union is the focus of the modern evolution of the Belarusian national concept. It is also the foundation and key to the success of the nation-state construction in Belarus in the new era.
(2) Ethnic Identity Conflict
Historical national divisions, the Soviet Union’s ethnic policies and the diversion of overseas immigrants in the early 20th century have shaped the diverse ethnic consciousness of the White people and hindered their nationalist movements and unified identity. The Russification policy implemented by the Rwanda government after the collapse of the Soviet Union further intensified ethnic antagonisms, leading to an increase in the inherent tension in the construction of a modern nation-state in Belarus. In addition, the special relationship between Russia and Belarus and their increasing dependence on Russia have weakened Belarus’ strategic autonomy in national construction issues. How to bridge the identity differences between ethnic groups and build a unified and independent nation-state consciousness has become one of the focus issues of the White authorities in the process of nation-building.
(3) The distinction between the people and the elite
The white nationalist movement has never shown a strong mass character.On the one hand, this is reflected in the fact that the white people, represented by farmers, rarely realize their independent national identity; on the other hand, the white elite activists from upper-class Russian and Polish families have national consciousness and modern national concepts, but it is difficult to accept the concept of identity based on Belarusian ethnicity and Belarusian . How to reconstruct political traditions, promote public understanding and join the redefined political community has become an urgent task to be solved.
3. Belarusian nation-state construction strategy under political crisis
The political crisis in 2020 prompted the Belarusian authorities to pay more attention to the construction of a nation-state under new historical conditions. In response to existing problems and combined with its own development characteristics, a series of measures were adopted:
(1) Strengthening the legislative construction related to identity
In order to strengthen national awareness, the Belarusian authorities are revising the " Nationality Law " to make a clearer definition of national identity. Bai also plans to revise and supplement the "National Security Concept" to include historical memory, the constitutional classification and protection of "the people" in the scope of national strategic interests, and to add new content such as civil society responsibilities.
(2) Strengthen patriotism education and strive to shape a new historical outlook
In order to enhance domestic consensus and improve national cohesion, the Belarusian authorities established National Unity Day and placed it alongside Victory Day and Independence Day. The government also organizes theme year activities such as the Year of People's Unity, and takes this as an opportunity to carry out patriotic education, promote historical and cultural traditions, and shape a unified and independent view of history.
(3) Strengthen social construction and improve the status of social organizations and political parties
In order to strengthen the connection between the government and society and enhance social mobilization capabilities, Belarus amended the constitution and added the All-Belarusian People’s Assembly. At the same time, it formulated the "Civil Society Law" and revised the "Law on the Activities of Political Parties and Other Social Organizations" to build a legal basis for political party construction and the development of civil society.
(4) Efforts to maintain diversified diplomacy and create a more favorable external environment for national construction
With the outbreak of the domestic political crisis in Belarus and the crisis in Ukraine in 2020, the United States and the West have implemented political isolation and economic sanctions on Belarus. This completely severed Belarus' relations with the United States and the West, and sharply increased its dependence on Russia, which in turn led to serious doubts about the country's independence. In order to hedge against the sudden increase in external pressure and eliminate domestic concerns about the loss of national sovereignty, the Belarusian government pursues a diversified and balanced foreign policy, actively participates in multilateral organization activities, seeks to become a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, extensively expands relations with China and other Asian, African and Latin American countries, and strives to create a favorable external environment for the construction of a nation-state. The full text of
is reprinted from the public account "World National Hotspots" (click to read "The Construction of the Belarusian Nation-State under the Political Crisis: Dilemma and Response " )
Author: Zhang Yanlu
Public Account Editor: Wu Ning
Today's Headline Editor: Wukong
