The State and Prospects of Patriotic Education Policy within the Union State of Belarus and Russia

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.