Presents an interview by National Endowment for the Humanities chairman, Sheldon Hackney, with historian John Higham on multiculturalism and national identity. Contends that the centrifugal forces of national, ethnic, and religious diversity need countervailing forces to hold the nation together. (CFR)

Summarizes E. D. Hirsch's book, "Cultural Literacy," focusing on four separate arguments. Compares U.S. and Canadian education and society, particularly in relationship to multiculturalism and bilingualism. Concludes that Hirsch trivializes culture by presenting as no more than a common convention of effective national communication.…

Asserts that Russian society and Russian schools are going through a profound crisis. Maintains that the best approach to solving social and educational problems is to restore and develop national principles and group cohesion. Criticizes the United States and Japanese educational systems and calls for Russia to follow its own path. (CFR)

Discusses multiculturalism in its context as a form of intellectual and historical atonement and points out its internal contradictions. Argues that the Western culture is becoming global, or universal; and, therefore, there should be no school-enforced multiculturalism. (CFR)