The article explores one of the most significant human values, i.e. patriotism, from the viewpoint of the Belarusian tradition of patriotism, practice of patriotism, modern problems and evolution prospects; it proposes theoretical and scientific basis for patriotism as social reality, identifies stages of genesis and comprehension, and the place of patriotism in the civilizational paradigm of Belarusian society, and sets socio-philosophical, spiritual and moral imperatives. Within the framework of the civilizational code of Belarusian society and based on the analysis of the state and development trends of patriotic consciousness in a nation state, the article identifies main approaches to understanding the most important factors and priorities in the patriotic education policies and ensuring security of the Republic of Belarus, as new risks, challenges and threats to its security have emerged. For Belarus, patriotism becomes the most important factor in ensuring independence and identity, virtue and prosperity, security and domestic political stability, strength and power. Patriotism as a system of fundamental values and ideas, goals and interests of society determines the unity of value orientations for both an individual and the state as a whole, and integrates multiple meanings of various social, confessional, ethnic and other groups as social reality. Loosing patriotic qualities and values leads to loosing national identity and uniqueness, the meaning and purpose of the state development, and justice and morality in the state. 

In the article the author studies the phenomenon of traditionalism in the formation and development of the civilization of the Orthodox world as an imperative of the sustainable development of the East Slavic civilization. The dialectic of traditions and innovations in the dialogue between the church and the state of the Eastern Slavic civilization is explored. The article addresses concepts by N. Ya. Danilevsky and K. N. Leontyev that correspond to the traditionalist understanding of historical development. The focused analysis of these concepts has made it possible both to identify the philosophical and conceptual foundations of traditionalism as a specific feature of the Orthodox civilization and justify the social experience of interaction between the church and the state. 

The author analyzes an intellectual’s social role and significance. In particular, he addresses the difference, including social difference, between intellectuals and intelligentsia. The author shows the social history of how the category ‘intellectual’ emerged within both European and Russian/Belarusian traditions. The article analyzes the category of intellectual as it is viewed by representatives of European science. Then the author identifies the characteristics and social functions of an intellectual and of intellectuals as a social group. After that, he displays a scheme of mobilizing a society by an intellectual. The author concludes that an intellectual is a kind of social agent in a social space who solves or attempts to cope with those socially significant problems which other social agents or institutions are unable to cope with, in particular, due to the lack of sufficient symbolic capital or for other reasons related to issues of political nature (struggle for power or its implementation). It is the intellectual who, due to his special social status, is capable to reveal certain social problems and conflicts and make them relevant, and it is the intellectual who, due to his having necessary resources, in particular, his symbolic capital, is capable to have pretensions to solving these problems through social mobilization. 

This paper studies the evolution of the EU’s political conditionality instruments applied to the Eastern Partnership. Thе study of this issue is of scientific interest, related to investigating the EU foreign-policy strategies, as well as of practical interest arising out of the need to take into consideration political transformations on the continent to ensure regional security. It is shown that, apart from such conventional instruments as trade preferences, budget support, financial and investment donorship, political and/or economic sanctions, new instruments have been developed within the Eastern Partnership, including programs of multilateral cooperation (regional, inter-regional, cross-border), the Eastern Partnership Integration and Cooperation Program, and the so-called Umbrella Program. The article analyzes an essentially new instrument of positive political conditionality – the Association Agreement, which seeks to foster the implementation of democratic regulations and standards in partner states in exchange for providing access to the European commodity, financial, energy, and labor markets. The Association Agreement rests on common values: democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, rule of law, good governance, respect for the rights of national minorities, prevention of discrimination of minorities, respect for human dignity, and commitment to the principles of the free market. The presence of trade, environmental, social, and energy issues in the Association Agreement indicates their concordance and political conditionality. This research also analyzes the evolution of the EU’s political conditionality instruments. It is shown that the expansion of the range of instruments is due to the change in the meaning of human rights (social and environmental rights have been added to this term to complement fundamental civil and political rights) as well as to the political and economic transformations in the region. The results of the research may be used to analyze regional development issues and develop specific areas of Belarus’ foreign policy.

The article presents antique coins which were discovered during the excavations of the archeological complex of Kardon in Shumilina district, Vitebsk region. According to the wide factual basis, a very rare phenomenon had been traced in the territory of the Belarusian Dzvina region: ancient coins were found in its eastern part (Vitebsk region) through official excavations by the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus in 2016. These are a denarius of Marcus Aurelius (AD 164) from the hill fort and a didrachm of Vespasian and Titus (AD 69 to 79) from settlement 1. The authors expressed their ideas on possible ways and circumstances for these artifacts to have appeared on the archaeological site of Kardon. They believe that the Roman coins most probably got on the right side of the Vitebsk Dzvina region through representatives of the Kiev culture from the area between the Dnieper and Dzvina rivers. This opinion is substantiated by artifacts related to this culture that were found both in Kardon and in the considered region. The dating of the lower cultural layers of the hill fort and settlement 1 in Kardon is made on the basis of the availability of comb-marked pottery, and it is possible that the coins got on the site in the earliest period of its existence. 

New materials are presented, which were obtained from a Final Paleolithic–Mesolithic settlement located near Zborov, Rogachev District, Gomel Oblast, as a result of excavations in 2013 and collecting liftable material in 2000–2015. The settlement is located on the left bank of the Dnieper River, on the north-east edge of Zborov, in the area of the first flood plain terrace, at least 4 m above the flood plain level. The cultural layer in the area selected for excavation appeared to have been damaged by plowing, which did not allow using stratigraphical data to determine the cultural layer materials. The technical and typological analysis of products allows to conclude that materials from settlement Zborov 2 are culturally non-uniform, which is distinctly traced both in the technology of splitting and in the production of tools. Analyzing the condition of sources belonging to the Final Paleolithic–Mesolithic and comparing them to data from settlement Zborov 2 it is possible to make a preliminary conclusion about multiple colonization of the settlement and to mark out at least several different technologies of stone splitting. Materials associated with the traditions of Lingbi or Grensk culture should be considered the earliest on the settlement. The nest episode of colonizing the settlement is reflected by features and elements of Svider culture. 

The article is devoted to the military formations of the Russian army that were located in the territory of Grand Duchy of Finland in 1815–1835. The Army was a very important tool for the consolidation of the Russian Empire. With the help of this instrument, Russian authorities sought to prevent invasion of the Swedish army and control political life of Grand Duchy of Finland. This was achieved by combining the administrative (Governor-General) and military power (the Detached Corps of Finland) in the hands of one person. Owing to this system, Finns enjoyed autonomy, but at the same time were subject to continuing control of the Governor-General. The disbandment of the Detached Corps of Finland was caused by the absence of a military threat from the Kingdom of Sweden, as well as by the loyalty of the Finns themselves to the Russian administration. However, the Governor-general continued to use the power of the Commander of the Detached Corps for political purposes. 

The paper looks into the functional potential of generalization as highlighted in different scientific fields. It has been revealed that generalization plays a very significant role in the theory of cognition, linguistics and science in general. Thus, generalization proves to be an indispensable factor in understanding the world, naming new phenomena and ensuing information interchange. The highly abstract character of generalization has let scholars refer to it as a high-level category, which, as the analysis shows, can be attributed with a metacategorical status. In linguistics the category of generalization, though having a distinct semantic background, can find versatile ways of its formal manifestation, which have been traditionally viewed as a functional-semantic field. The paper suggests that among the conventionally recognized language levels of the field there should be identified the level of text, which is best represented with generalizing utterances – sentences, whose major aim is to recap preceding information and convey it in a condensed form. It has been shown that such utterances can perform a wide range of functions in the text, with text formation being the leading one. 

The article examines the main stages of the formation of Belarusian folklorists’ ideas about the variants and variative nature of folk songs in the period from the late 18th century up to the present. In modern folkloristics, variance is understood as a specific feature of folklore, which manifests itself in that works of folk art exist in variants. The problem of variance in the oral tradition is distinguished by its special multidimensionality and complexity; it can be oriented towards resolving most important issues of various nature that persist in folklore studies, and, above all, the problems of the formation, evolution and transformation of oral folk works. Four main periods can be distinguished in the process of forming the problem of variance in Belarusian folklore. First, it was empirically found that multiple variants of folk songs and different local styles and traditions did exist and that there were a number of factors that influenced the occurrence of song variants (place, time, environment, performer’s age and individual abilities, form of existence). Attention to the phenomenon of variants in Belarusian folklore grew in close connection with accumulated factual material and increasing level of theoretical thought. The variant comparison method has become a dominant one for studying problems of Belarusian and East Slavic folklore and for discovering specifics and regularities in the existence of folklore. 

The article shows the history of the wax portrait theatre as a type of art. Substantial difference between a historically conventional type of exposition in the period when its major development phases were established and the genre of wax portrait in retrospect is explored. An overview is presented covering new achievements in the museum and exposition industry where animatronics, a modern visual technology involving animated figures, has significantly transformed the nature of such a unique type art as wax portrait. 

The article explores ‘unstudied pages’ of the Western Belarusian poetry of the 1920s–1930s and the quest for ideology and aesthetics by A. Dubrovich, U. Kazloushchyk, and V. Advazhny. A. Dubrovich’s works are addressed in the context of traditions pertinent to the lyrical and narrative style characterized by an unforced artistic worldview, a combination of the general and individual and of the objective and subjective. It is noted that A. Dubrovich’s poems were arranged in accordance with the narrative principle; they attracted attention due to such their aspects as epically unfolded pattern, sketchiness and publicism, and substantive concreteness of artistic imagery. U. Kazloushchyk was a representative of the romantic style that dominated in the poetry of Western Belarus. His works were marked by acute conflict between the lyrical hero and reality; they asserted specific features of the national revival doctrine and the heroic and patriotic spirit, and cultivated resoluteness, persistence, and strength. The article reveals their excessive involvement in the issues of national history and their romanticized imagery. It is noted that the works by V. Advazhny who represents the spiritually irrational stylistic trend, poeticize the foundations of mystical evolutionism. His lyrical consciousness addressed the Christian primary source, asserted the ideal beginning of the world, and glorified the faith in God as boundless and eternal Good and Happiness. Specific features of the poet’s social, patriotic and Christian ideal are identified. 

The article aims to give coverage to the contents of the public policy in the sphere of historical and cultural heritage of Belarus, as it was amended following the adoption of the Cultural Code which came into force on 3 February 2017. The focus is made on the powers of all public bodies involved in the cultural policy. Based on the analysis of culture-related normative legal acts and practices of their application, the powers of the state to manage, protect, use and promote historical and cultural heritage have been determined. The article identifies instruments to implement the public policy to preserve historically and culturally valuable objects, defines factors that determine the choice of particular instruments, and proposes priorities for their use at the current stage of social development. Specific statistical data are given to prove that government programs for the protection and restoration of monuments of history and culture in Belarus are supported by respective resources. The article is addressed to historical and cultural heritage protection specialists. The conclusions and recommendations can be used to implement public policies and government programs aimed to preserve our cultural and historical heritage. 

The article explores a politico-economic noospheric strategic model for sovereign, creative, rational, spiritual and moral life of the Belarusian, Russian, Ukrainian, Kazakh, Chinese and other peoples in the context of the world civilization. 

Leonid Fiodorovich Yevmenov (To the 85th Birth Anniversary).