The revival of traditional culture as an element of the national security policy of the Central Asian countries in the 1991-2010's.

Abstract

The subject of the study is the formation of one of the ideological components of national security policy in the countries of the Central Asian region (CAR) - the concept of preserving historical, cultural and religious traditions as the basis of social stability and security. The authors focus on the process of incorporating this concept into the theory and practice of ensuring the national security of the CAR countries at different historical stages of their development after 1991. The objects of the research are scientific theories and legal acts reflecting the relationship between culture and security in the Central Asian states, official statements and writings of the first President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, and other political leaders of Central Asia. The article touches upon the problems of countering radical religious movements and other ideological influences from outside by the CAR states, and shows the controversial nature of the measures taken in this area by the authorities of Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan. Methodologically, the research is based on a civilizational approach to understanding the historical process, as well as on the idea of the influence of geopolitical trends on the internal life of countries and peoples of the modern world, including the Central Asian region. The work is based on the principles of historicism and consistency, using chronological, synchronous, dichronous, comparative and other methods of historical research. The novelty of the study lies in the generalization of data revealing the role of traditional values in the security systems of the CAR countries. The results of the work include a set of facts and theoretical provisions on the evolution of the security ideology of the CAR countries and can be used in scientific projects in the field of universal history and political science. The authors conclude that the revival of traditional culture and the local version of Islam (Hanafism) in the 1991-2010's were consistently considered by the leaders of the CAR countries as one of the most important factors in strengthening the state, its independence and international authority. This line was carried out most fully and consistently in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, which was reflected in the development programs, legislation, scientific and journalistic literature of these countries. There is a tendency in Kazakhstan to integrate cultural policy based on traditional civilizational values with national security policy.