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Nature Symbols and Images as Identity Attributes of the Greater Caspian States

21
Rubric: Ethnopolitical Processes and Nation in Changing World
DOI: 10.20542/0131-2227-2026-70-3-122-134
EDN: HPZBUC
A. Romanova, ORCID 0000-0001-8537-4893, aromanova_mail@mail.ru
Astrakhan Tatishchev State University, 20A, Tatishchev Str., 414056, Astrakhan, Russian Federation.
E. Morozova, ORCID 0000-0002-1369-7594, morozova_e@inbox.ru
Astrakhan Tatishchev State University, 20A, Tatishchev Str., 414056, Astrakhan, Russian Federation;
Kuban State University, 149, Stavropolskaya Str., 350040, Krasnodar, Russian Federation.
PDF (RUS)

Received 12.10.2025. Revised 31.10.2025. Accepted 24.12.2025.

Acknowledgements. The study was supported by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation no. 22-18-00301-П “The process of constructing new identities in the Caspian macroregion in the context of societal security”.


Abstract. The role of symbols in the formation of national, regional, and ethnic identities is crucial; through them, the most significant values of a people are revealed and recorded. Nature objects, as symbols, have their roots in the distant past. Understanding the origins and contemporary role of symbolism as part of the cultural code of peoples is essential not only in intercultural communication but also in the spheres of “high politics” – interstate relations and public diplomacy. The methodological basis of the research is shaped by social constructivism (Bergman and Luckmann), the concept of the “symbolic mediator” developed by Sorokin, and the macropolitical concept of identity politics (Drobizheva, Semenenko). The empirical basis is built upon the materials of the authors’ sociological research conducted in Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan in 2022–2024 (mass online survey, focus group interviews), textual and visual sources representing national and regional symbols of these states. The authors conclude that contemporary symbolic array of the Caspian macroregion reflects the layering of multiple historical eras, from which current politicians derive evidence of modern polities legitimacy and their own power or geopolitical claims. The scientific novelty of this article lies in the proposed typology of nature symbols and images that influence identity formation in the Greater Caspian countries, identification of the mechanisms of their modernization and the motives for politicization, and formulation of the problem of common symbolism of the Caspian macroregion.

Keywords: naturе symbols, nature images, national identity, regional identity, symbolic policy, symbols of state, image of state, Caspian macroregion


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For citation:
Romanova А., Morozova E. Nature Symbols and Images as Identity Attributes of the Greater Caspian States. World Eсonomy and International Relations, 2026, vol. 70, no. 3, pp. 122–134. https://doi.org/10.20542/0131-2227-2026-70-3-122-134 EDN: HPZBUC

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