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Strategic uses of nationalism and ethnic conflict. Interest and identity in Russia and the post-soviet space, by Pål Kolstø, Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, 2022, 294 pages, £85.00 (hardback), ISBN: 9781474495004
In the era of globalization and unprecedented economic growth of information era, it seemed to many viewers that ethnic conflicts based on nationalism were over. It felt like they would become a problem for historians, sociologists and political scientists. However, as time has told, the processes in world politics are still intensely influenced by nationalism, and many conflicts are caused by the artificial construction of ethnic conflicts by state structures of authoritarian and revanchist regimes. This field of research is highly relevant and lies at the border of various areas of social, political and historical sciences. Ethnic, Cultural and Racial Studies methodology in this area is particularly relevant and can produce results. Monograph Strategic Uses of Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict. Interest and Identity in Russia and the Post-Soviet Space, published by a major publishing house Edinburgh University has been written by professor Pål Kolstø from the Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages of Oslo University. Observing the development of post-communist ethnopolitics in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, i.e. the collapse of regimes, has led to the active growth of nationalism studies over the past three decades. At that moment, ethnicity came to the fore as one of the essential factors in politics. One of the observers identified the nature of the causes of these conflicts as a matter of ethnic identity. Different ethnic groups determined not only the direction of thinking but also actions. Nationalism and ethnic conflicts have become a natural consequence of identity division. Other observers paid attention to the issue of the formation of collective loyalty and its active use by State Governments and members of ethnic groups pursuing collective or personal goals. National identities could be used for collective purposes, and the politicization of ethnicity was mainly carried out only for specific interests.