The current political leadership of Russia shows that it expects its brand of conservative nationalism to find widespread popular support.58Jadwiga Rogoza observes that Putin symbolically has separated what he considers to be the “healthy and conservative” majority in Russian society from the alienated and “cosmopolitan” minority, which he accuses of acting in the interests of the West

Putin sees the unity of the nation as necessarily derived from a consensus on moral principles, which is consistent with his nostalgia for the Moral Code of the Builder of Communism of the early 1960s. By 2012 he began to speak frequently of the need for skrepy (braces or clamps) to ensure the unity of Russian society. In January 2012 he wrote, “Trust between people is formed only when society is clamped together by common values,”51 and in his address in December 2012 he complained, “today Russian society is experiencing an obvious deficit of spiritual clamps.”5

8 From 1999 to the present, Putin persistently has emphasized that Russia must follow its own distinctive path instead of imitating models of development drawn from Western counties.39 With equal consistency he also has stressed that attempts by other countries to interfere in Russia’s internal affairs are unac-ceptable.40 It is apparent that the version of conservatism that the Russian state is promoting is intended to provide ideological support for the current political regime in order to preserve the model of governance that Putinhas created.41 Another goal of the regime is to unite Russian society behind a single “national idea” whose content will be defined by a set of conservative ideas.4

Uskorenie, Glasnost' and Perestroika: The Pattern of Reform under Gorbachev

You must significantly exceed the performance described above for the grade of B.• You must demonstrate a willingness and ability to constantly probe beneath obviouslevels of analysis, to question assumptions and perceptions (both your own and those youencounter in your readings, to explore new intellectual territory, and to make discoveriesabout yourself and your environment.• You must demonstrate leadership abilities small group discussion, but balance this withan awareness that the quality (rather than the quantity) of speaking and writingcompleted in a term is the real hallmark of excellence.• Your comments to colleagues must be focused, specific, and constructive.• You must demonstrate curiosity about new subjects and perspectives and be willing toexert time and energy to pursue that curiosity.• You must be willing and able to reflect upon your own work and thinking with an eye tothe constant and substantial improvement of the same