Formation of all-Russian civil identity in the context of regional elites' activities (on the materials of the North Caucasus)

The general socio-political situation in the region is analyzed, the centrifugal and centripetal forces that determine the very nature of politics in the region through the prism of ethnic and civic forms of identity are considered. The emergence of new points of ethnopolitical and ethno-religious tension, chauvinistic tendencies, and anti-Semitic sentiments demonstrate a fairly high level of conflict potential and the severity of nationalist manifestations in the region. Such conflict behavior is most often provoked from the outside, including through the use of modern information resources, social networks, using manipulative technologies that have an impact on the masses. These processes indicate the existence of socio-cultural and religious grounds for the growth of discriminatory rhetoric and clashes. The study of these problems is an urgent scientific task in the context of transformation and transit of local identity features. The article also analyzes various forms and approaches of identity formation in the North Caucasus, highlights common and special factors, contradictions in the development of general civil attitudes. The national composition is considered, the role of regional actors in the political management and development of the region is highlighted separately. These issues carry elements of novelty and relevance. The work uses specialized political science techniques: the method of analyzing a specific situation - case-study, secondary analysis of sociological research data. Along with private scientific methods and approaches, general scientific methods and approaches are also used in the study: historical and philosophical methods and approaches (dialectics, the principle of historicism), the system integrative method, comparative studies. In conclusion, recommendations are presented aimed at solving the problems of forming the civil identity of the peoples of the North Caucasus, through the transition of ethnic forms of identity to all-Russian ones.