“Patriotism and Collaborationism in the World History” – such is the title of the conference opened at KFU on October 14th.

Director of the Institute of International Relations, History and Oriental Studies Ramil Khayrutdinov talks about the conference: «This topic is currently one of the hottest in historiography. Patriotism and collaborationism are two sides of one coin. To find their roots, what they are tied with, when they emerge – that's what this conference is about».

Chairperson of the Department of World History Yevgeny Chiglintsev adds: «This topic is really inexhaustible, so I hope the participants will have new ideas about patriotism and betrayal after the event wraps up». As of now one result is already evident – the eponymous collective thesis.

The conference is a part of a bigger project. “We are now in the third year of our project called “Patriotism and Betrayal in the Ancient World". That's where the idea of this conference comes from”, said Prof. Eduard Rung.

The participating colleagues from other institutions are Sergey Karpyuk (Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) and Aleksandr Makhlayuk (Chairperson of the Department of Ancient History and Classical Languages, Nizhni Novgorod State University).

The conference will conclude on October 16th. The panels are “Patriotism in the World History”, “Historical Choice: Between Patriotism and Betrayal”, and “From Greek Midism to the Fifth Column: Collaborationism in the World History”. A roundtable on the symbolism and rhetoric of patriotism and betrayal will also be held.