Moscow Triple Budget On Patriotic Education, page 1

Russia will triple its budget to $17 million for "patriotic education" the next five years. They call it a "counteraction to attempts to discredit and devalue the patriotic idea in the media, literature and arts." In return for patriotic reports and shows the government will provide financial or other support. Also cultural figures willing to include patriotic themes in their work will get rewarded.

The Moscow Times: Spending on Patriotism Will Triple

July 19, 2005

The government will triple spending for patriotic education to almost 500 million rubles ($17 million) for the next five years, according to a document posted on the government's web site Monday.

The program also will encourage media organizations to carry patriotic reports and shows. In return, the government will provide financial or other support to television companies, newspapers and cultural figures willing to include patriotic themes in their work.

Part of the program's funding will go toward setting up regional offices to coordinate patriotic education across the country, the document says.

The government earmarked $6.4 million for the 2001-05 patriotic program, which among other things financed war games for young people, celebrations of military victories and the manufacture of patriotic souvenirs.

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Patriotic education? I thought this was something they did in the days of the cold war. I wonder how long it takes before other governments will copy this idea...