The article considers the role of ethnopolitics in the design of a new Russian civil nation. The idea is substantiated that the problem of the formation of a civil nation in Russia is caused by the problem of the coincidence of two identities – national (universal) and ethnic. The role of ethnicity as a self-sufficient political resource is noted. The process of nation-building, features of ethno-political education are analyzed. The need to shift the emphasis in the implementation of Russian ethnopolitics is emphasized.
