O. V. Bakhlova, I. V. Bakhlov. The State and Prospects of Patriotic Education Policy within the Union State of Belarus and Russia

https://doi.org/10.15507/2413-1407.129.033.202503.443-467
EDN: https://elibrary.ru/spoxar
УДК / UDC 172.15:303.425.2 (470+571)

Abstract

Introduction. The policy of patriotic education in modern conditions acquires a special meaning and significance for Russia and Belarus, the Union State as an integration association based on common values. It is interpreted as multidimensional, embodying the guidelines of national development and union building. The purpose of the study is to summarize and detail the positive results and remaining vulnerabilities in the approval of the policy of patriotic education in the Union State, taking into account a combination of internal and external factors.

Materials and Methods. The research is based on official documents of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus in the field of patriotic education, materials from the Internet resources of the Union State, documents of an integration nature, and the results of an expert survey. The main methods are system multilevel analysis, comparative analysis, qualitative analysis of documents, and SWOT analysis.

Results. A range of brief analytical scenarios of the evolution of the policy of patriotic education within the framework of the Union State is presented. The key elements of the evolution of the policy of patriotic education at the national and union levels are shown. The SWOT analysis parameters in internal and external dimensions are highlighted, and strengths and weaknesses in the considered perspective are determined for each of them. Opportunities and threats have been identified and ranked. The risks correlating with manipulations of nationalist sentiments, deformations in the fields of education, culture, youth policy, scientific and technological development, in political systems, with the difficulties of rooting the idea of a “common Motherland”, and the weakness of integration tools are emphasized.

Discussion and Conclusion. Several scenarios for the development of the policy of patriotic education in the Union State have been formed. The scenario of deepening the institutionalization of the policy of patriotic education at the union level is recognized as the basic one. The optimistic spectrum includes the scenario of the approval of the policy of patriotic education as one of the main directions of union building, linked to federalization. In the pessimistic sense, the sovereignization of the policy of patriotic education presupposes the degradation of integration interaction. The circumstances of the current stage determine its interpretation as unlikely. The implementation of one scenario or another is associated with possible internal political and integration changes. The results of the study may be in demand by national and union authorities and administrations to improve integration policy, the humanitarian dimension of union building, and the policy of patriotic education.

Keywords: challenges and opportunities for Russian-Belarusian integration, institution of union citizenship, constitution of the policy of patriotic education of the Union State, normative consolidation of the concept of “patriotism”, socio-political support for union construction, patriotic education programs

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Funding. This work was financially supported by the Russian Science Foundation, Grant No. 23-28-00371 (https://rscf.ru/project/23-28-00371/).

For citation: Bakhlova O.V., Bakhlov I.V. The State and Prospects of Patriotic Education Policy within the Union State of Belarus and Russia. Russian Journal of Regional Studies. 2025;33(3):443–467. https://doi.org/10.15507/2413-1407.129.033.202503.443-467

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About the authors:

Olga V. Bakhlova, Dr.Sci. (Polit.), Associate Professor, Professor of the Chair of General History, Political Science and Regional Studies, National Research Mordovia State University (68/1 Bolchevistskaya St., Saransk 430005, Russian Federation), ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3849-8321, Researcher ID: W-2198-2019, Scopus ID: 57212022043, SPIN-code: 2183-7052, olga.bahlova@mail.ru

Igor V. Bakhlov, Dr.Sci. (Polit.), Professor, Head of the Chair of General History, Political Science and Regional Studies, National Research Mordovia State University (68/1 Bolchevistskaya St., Saransk 430005, Russian Federation), ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6886-5762, Researcher ID: T-4657-2019, Scopus ID: 57212021385, SPIN-code: 9489-5152, bahlov@mail.ru

Contribution of the authors:

O. V. Bakhlova – funding acquisition; investigation; writing – original draft preparation.

I. V. Bakhlov – funding acquisition; project administration; writing – review and editing.

Availability of data and materials. The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the authors on reasonable request.

The authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

Submitted 13.11.2024; revised 30.06.2025; accepted 08.07.2025.