The article deals with the problems of theoretical and practical development of the cultural heritage of the Great Silk Road. Interest in this cultural and historical phenomenon is due to the fact that the peoples of different countries are trying to understand the sources of their spirituality, their national involvement in world culture. The article gives a philosophical analysis of the main trends of scientific and public interest in the Great Silk Road, the idea of its revival as an important factor in the interaction and dialogue of different cultures. The author notes that the process of globalization is associated with both positive and negative consequences. The author, while fully characterizing the issue raised, points out that integration processes are one side of globalization, and the processes of «national disintegration» that destroys the cultural, political and economic components of the life of society are the reverse side. It is noted the need to counter terrorist and extremist crimes, the basis of which is the manipulation of consciousness as an individual, and society as a whole. The article notes the importance of striving for harmonization of relations, for establishing a dialogue, for reducing conflict as an alternative viable strategy. Theoretically, the problem of interpretation of the national problems in the ethical and normative aspect remains significant and actual in practice. Understanding the key issues of intercultural interaction and finding resources to optimize these aspects is an important issue of the present and the future.
The Great Silk Road through the whole history of its existence has convincingly shown how much humanity can achieve if it does not aim to conquer and enslave one people to another, but through joint efforts in the dialogue of cultures it establishes the links of peaceful cooperation and mutual understanding.
Of course, the problems of developing mutual understanding and consent between different peoples have always existed, but now, in the twenty-first century, they are more acute than ever. The reason for this situation is the expansion and complication of the modern multipolar world, which has reached the stage of development when the problem that has arisen in one region inevitably responds in other regions, when the difficulties and contradictions of the local scale grow into difficulties and contradictions global, placing the world on the verge of a catastrophe. At the same time, certain ethnic and national cultures entered into a diverse and contradictory interaction that could turn into both a wealth of development and a loss of their uniqueness and identity.
In the process of dialogue and the integration of cultures, all spheres of culture are actively involved and simultaneously covered by this dialogue. A.N. Nysanbaev points to the next series of stages of mutually enriching integration of cultures. «The original community (unity) of the human race is replaced by the differentiation of cultures, ethnoses, types of relations to the world; then, especially in the modern multipolar world, there is a search for ways of mutual understanding and mutual agreement; thus entering into a dialogue, and in it - a real knowledge and understanding of another culture. In this process, there is a mutual exchange of values necessary for the life and development of the contacting cultures, and, therefore, on this basis, a one-by-one humanity, a truly equal human brotherhood, is formed» [1; 5, 6].
To achieve this kind of goal, on which, of course, the future of mankind depends, it is necessary that the dialogue itself be built taking into account the mandatory conditions leading to understanding and agreement. The first such condition is the mutual trust of the parties entering into the dialogue. Through trust and openness, knowledge of each other is further realized and, as a consequence, there is mutual interest and mutual respect, since any culture has in its composition values that can not cause no interest and respect. Then, in its end, the dialogue organically grows into a close and mutually beneficial cooperation in achieving certain common goals.
It is in the course of such dialogue that unity emerges, understood either as the unification or dissolution of one culture into another, or as their mutual absorption, and even as an artificial preservation of the existing cultural diversity, but as a co-creative link enriching all the interacting parties. And this is nothing else than the development of the diverse. After all, development can only be realized through creative mutual enrichment, mutual influence of the diverse sides of the whole, otherwise the diversity will not develop, but disintegrate.
A.N. Nysanbaev notes that the sad events of recent years related to the approval of isolationist installations, the emergence of the requirements of a closed and immobile monoculture «lead to extreme and, in fact, agonizing forms of some kind of «originality by any means, by all means», i.e. to radicalism, extremism, terrorism, fanaticism». But such a culture deprives itself of vitality, for «culture in the exact sense of the word is an external, object-practical manifestation and embodiment of spirituality - the moral essence of man» [1; 7].
Today, a special culture of interethnic communication is needed more than ever, including the knowledge and implementation of generally accepted norms and rules at the international level that regulate the relations of representatives of different ethnic communities; observance of the established traditional international forms of interethnic communication. By forming such a culture, we become able to affirm in practice mutually agreed principles of conflict-free mutual understanding and cooperation in the course of interethnic cooperation, to resist national narrow-mindedness and closeness, national bias and hostility, national distrust and alienation, national egoism and ethnocentrism.
The main features and criteria for a high culture of interethnic communication are: the recognition and recognition of the priority of universal values over class and group values, the understanding of the need for harmonization of universal and national interests; the feeling of friendship between the peoples of the country of residence, the unity of the human family; care about the fate of the «small homeland», a great homeland, the whole planet Earth; understanding of the need to work for the good of your nation, the people of the country of residence, for the sake of preserving mankind; aspiration and promotion of the expansion of the interrelations of their nation with the peoples of the country of residence and the world; indissoluble and constant interest in culture, its people, the people of the country of residence, the world's democratic culture; knowledge of the native language, the language of the country of residence, the languages of other peoples; national modesty and concern for the dignity of their nation, the peoples of their countries of residence, of all mankind; deep respect for the national dignity of citizens of their nationality and any other, goodwill and tact in the relationship, and in the long term - the abandonment of the habit of distinguishing people according to their national and racial origins; correct understanding of nationalism as an exceptionally complex, ambiguous and contradictory phenomenon; intolerance to manifestations of chauvinism and racism, aspiration to master and enhance the culture of interethnic communication.
A person with a developed culture of interethnic communication has the skills of communication in a multinational work collective, the ability to use them in their practical activities; respectful attitude to the national dignity of other people, to national cultures, to progressive national traditions, to national customs; an irreconcilable attitude to manifestations of national selfishness and national vanity.
Dialogue of cultures just implies the exchange of cultural ideas, values and meanings that occurs between the two cultures. It is no coincidence that since 2003, on UNESCO's initiative, the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development was celebrated on May 21 each year. Studying the people of their past is not only for the sake of curiosity, it should fuel modernity with historical experience, but the fact that each people brings their own color, only colors the world with brighter and deeper colors. Acquaintance with the culture of other peoples allows us to penetrate deeper into their worldview, to understand their history, way of life and thoughts. In the 21st century, when a lot of different cultures collide as equal subjects, the concept of intercultural dialogue is becoming more widespread and is seen as an important element in the formation of a new qualitative state of contemporary international relations. Dialogue of civilizations, according to Yu.G. Zinovsky, in modern ideas is a kind of cultural exchange program, which is in the initial stage of acquaintance of partners in the international environment [2; 77]. The post-Soviet countries of the Central Asian and Caucasian regions, characterized by polyethnicity, the multi-confessionality of the population, the richness and originality of cultures of different peoples, making efforts for the revival of the Great Silk Road, on the one hand, assert the ideas of national identity, but at the same time are actively interacting with the external international environment, quite diverse in terms of its cultural, confessional, socioeconomic characteristics.
Therefore, when at the beginning of the 21st century, mankind faced the need to seek new ways of cooperation or restore and develop those that, since antiquity, contributed to the dialogue of cultures, the comprehensive, integrated study and restoration of the Great Silk Road as a «path of dialogue» an urgent task.
For many centuries the Great Silk Road served as a rapprochement between different peoples, the exchange of ideas and knowledge, the mutual enrichment of languages and cultures. Of course, even in thosedistant times there were political conflicts, wars broke out, but the Great Silk Road was invariably revived. The ineradicable desire for enrichment, for reasonable profit and higher prosperity, has always prevailed over political and religious confrontation. Therefore, when creating a model of future relations and cooperation of peoples, it is necessary to use such a convincing experience of the dialogue of cultures, rather than their confrontation.
Globalization, which has become one of the leading trends in modern world development, has an increasingly deeper impact on the economic, social, cultural and other spheres of human life. The main engine of globalization processes,rapidly integrating capital, technology, services and information, remains world trade. By linking all new countries, regions and entire continents into a single network, the global economy influences the nature, intensity, duration of bilateral and multilateral relations, forcing the interaction of states that were not partners before. The project of revival of the Great Silk Road, which provides for the creation of new opportunities for the development of trade relations between Asia and Europe, and the unification of the efforts of many countries at different levels of economic development and differing in their political order, corresponds to the tendencies of global development.
In 1998, the UNESCO international organization announced the launch of a ten-year project entitled «Integral study of the Silk Road - the way of dialogue». The project envisaged a broad and comprehensive study of the history of civilizations, the establishment of close cultural contacts between the East and the West, the improvement of relations between the numerous peoples inhabiting the Eurasian continent. The project indicated that the revival of the Great Silk Road is the resumption of the millennial dialogue of civilizations. The history of the Great Silk Road is a history of broad cultural interaction and mutual exchange between the peoples of the East and the West. It proves that only close cooperation and mutual enrichment of cultures are the foundation of peace and progress for all mankind. O. Suleimenov wrote: «If the» Great Silk Road «project provokes revival in the corresponding sciences, humanity can learn about itself a lot of new and interesting things that will help it in the creation of the future» [3].
The Great Silk Road is a special model of globalization, in which the processes of internationalization in all spheres of human activity were formed and the foundation for intensive cultural exchanges between peoples was laid. As noted by O. Suleimenov: «The Silk Road is the oldest and longest trade and cultural artery that connected the poles of the ancient world - the East and the West (the Ch'ing Empire and the Roman one) over the millennium is an interesting part of the history of Ancient Eurasia» [3].
Being a multi-ethnic and multi-confessional state, Kazakhstan is an example of harmonious and fruitful coexistence of representatives of different cultures and religions. Within the framework of the International Decade for the Rapprochement of Cultures (a proposal for its proclamation was made by the Permanent Delegation of Kazakhstan to UNESCO), a representative forum on the Great Silk Road was held in Almaty in October 2013, which gathered prominent experts from Kazakhstan, the CIS and foreign countries [4].
The purpose of this forum was to rethink the common cultural heritage of the Great Silk Road and its potential for deepening scientific, cultural and humanitarian cooperation within the framework of the International Decade for Rapprochement of Cultures.
Within the framework of the forum, the world's first integrated web portal was launched officially within the framework of UNESCO to create an open online data platform on the basis of materials from leading research institutions in the world in such areas as cultural dialogue and experience of peaceful interaction, a common, and documentary heritage of the Great Silk Road [5].
The information posted on this platform informs that the Great Silk Road as a trade highway, preserved to this day, has its roots in prehistoric times and unites people with completely different cultural traditions, religious beliefs and speaking different languages. The heritage of the Silk Road influenced the formation of the world in which we live today: languages, art, science, technology and spiritual beliefs. It is noted that the promotion of cultural diversity and the promotion of intercultural dialogue is the most effective way of building bridges between peoples, which contributes to peace. Today, with the support of more than 55 countries in Asia, Africa and Europe, UNESCO is reviving the Silk Road in the modern digital space for international cooperation, development and intercultural dialogue. UNESCO underscores the timeless significance and shows the powerful influence of trade routes, and actively encourages programs aimed at saving and developing the rich heritage of the Silk Road. As a single center of a comprehensive knowledge base, the platform will become a unique source of information, scientific knowledge and news about the Great Silk Road. In addition, UNESCO and its partners have combined the rich material and intangible heritage of historical routes, as well as a large number of photographs, video materials, best publications and research by scientistsfrom around the world. The amazing historical heritage of the Silk Road is an example of the mutual enrichment of cultures of different peoples.
The creation of active ties between peoples on the territory of the traditional Silk Road is the goal of the online platform. Thanks to the participation of the peoples living on the territory of the Silk Road, their active cultural interaction continues, as well as the sustainable development of creative industries, education and tourism.
Through constant interaction on the Silk Road, traditional craftsmanship, such as silk weaving, public rituals, such as the celebration of Nowruz, and sporting activities, such as the test of riding skills, have arisen. Their presence is still proof of the amazing history of the Silk Road with established traditions, which are transmitted from generation to generation for many centuries. Information provided by the online platform on traditions helps to understand the importance of bringing cultures and customs closer together to users living in and outside the traditional Silk Road (40 % of whom travel for cultural purposes). A rich World cultural and natural heritage, living traditions, museums and movable cultural values, folk art products and languages contributed to the enrichment of the territories through which the Silk Road passed. The uniqueness of this cultural heritage is the rapprochement of peoples in the process of exchanges on trade routes.
The «Silk Road» portal should create a unique platform for the global exchange of information on cultural development, and mainly contribute to the preservation of the cultural heritage of the Silk Road. First of all, this is the property of local people at the great historical crossroads of exchanges, the dialogue of cultures and sustainable development. The unshakable legacy of the Silk Road continues to play a key role in strengthening peace on Earth.
For modern Kazakhstan, the process of worldwide recognition and renewal of the Great Silk Road, which is far from being completed, is not only an opportunity to attract the potential of the international community to study and preserve unique monuments of history and culture on the Kazakh segment of the «Dialogue Roads», but also one of the ways of integrating the national culture into the world cultural space. The revitalized route should become a guiding thread for exchanging and promoting a vast heritage based on the skills and knowledge that scientists, pioneers and ordinary people gathered for hundreds of years. In our globalizing world, it undoubtedly stimulates a new round of development of the continent in all areas of international cooperation. The desire to revive the historical role of the Silk Road in the modern configuration according to the challenges of the third millennium lies at the heart of the project «The New Silk Road», put forward by the President of Kazakhstan NursultanNazarbayev on May 22, 2012 at a meeting of the Council of Foreign Investors. According to N.A. Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan should become «a kind of bridge between Europe and Asia», thus reviving its «historical role» [6].
At present, the Kazakhstan section of the Silk Road route is a unique complex of monuments of history, archeology, architecture, urban and monumental art reflecting the deep processes of interaction of nomadic and sedentary-agricultural cultures of the peoples of Central Asia.
Accordingly, the program for the preservation and development of the cultural heritage of the Great Silk Road encompasses both the study and preservation of this national heritage, as well as the problems of the continuation of the spiritual heritage of the peoples of Kazakhstan, the revival of historical cities and other ethno-cultural centers of the Great Silk Road route, the use of their traditional buildings and landscapes for organization of tourism infrastructure.
In the chronological and culturological aspects, the historical heritage of the Silk Road consists of two global phenomena of civilization — the oldest layers of spiritual and material culture of the nomadic world that initiated the sacred path and migration processes on the territory of the Eurasian continent and the richest legacy of sedentary-agricultural cultures that formed the human habitat. The need to revive the ethno-cultural identification of the landscape, create conditions for the socio-economic development of the historical centers of the Great Silk Road and their inclusion in the international tourism system determines the following main goals and tasks of the state program of the Republic of Kazakhstan for the revival and development of the corresponding cultural heritage. December 10, 2014 in the capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan was the I-st International Cultural Forum of the Silk Road. Following the results of the Forum, representatives of the SCO member states adopted a joint document — «Astana consensus», designed to intensify cooperation of the SCO member countries in the field of preserving and promoting the cultural heritage of the Silk Road.
In this document, representatives of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states agreed to further promote cultural values, intensify joint cooperation to preserve the cultural heritage of the Great Silk Road.
Participants noted that, in the light of the continuous development of the globalization process, the Silk Road is a world-class cultural heritage that many states enjoy. It is a long, cultural belt belonging to all mankind, running from East to West and connecting Europe with Asia.
Historically, the Silk Road was a path of friendly contacts, which together were created and mastered by the peoples of different countries, and includes several routes - passing through the steppes, green fields and forests, through the territory of the Southwest, and across the seas.
By signing the Astana consensus, the Forum participants expressed the hope that the cultural figures of the SCO member states will show genuine enthusiasm and will work hard to promote the creation of the cultural belt of the Silk Road of the 21st century, and the creation of prosperity for the peoples of various countries.
According to the document, representatives of political, scientific and business circles, cultural workers, artists, and mass media will take active steps to strengthen dialogue and contacts between different cultures, deepening mutual understanding and mutual trust, building equal and friendly relations, promoting cultural cooperation among peoples of different countries, the inheritance of the spirit of the Silk Road, its approval and dissemination [7].
Encouraging cultural diversity and appropriate dialogue means recognizing the entire spectrum of the diversity of world cultures and the links that unite them.
The main goal of the efforts of states to revive the Great Silk Road is to demonstrate the advantages of cultural diversity through the recognition of the importance of the processes of constant interpenetration and interchange in relations between cultures, as well as the ties established since the time of civilization. Since the concept of culture encompasses not only art and humanitarian aspects, but also a way of life, different variants of coexistence, value systems, traditions and beliefs, in order to protect their rich diversity and promote further development, we have to solve new tasks at the local, national, regional and international levels. This implies the integration of the principles of dialogue and mutual understanding in the mainstream of general political activity, with special emphasis on education, science, culture and communication, with a view to correcting attempts to distort cultural attitudes, values and the elimination of stereotypes.
Modern cooperation of states on the Great Silk Road implies the expansion of opportunities for research, meetings and public discussions and the development of intermediary contacts between cultures in the form of exhibitions that illustrate exchanges between cultures and the transfer of cultural knowledge, fairs and festivals dedicated to books, films, music, theater, dance, gastronomy, etc., using, in particular, museums, galleries and funds as «points» of information exchange and with the reference to new technologies, especially the ways obstvuyuschim linguistic diversity and facilitate translation.
The participants in the process of the revival of the Great Silk Road point to an increase in the role of creativity, demonstrating the rich cultural diversity of each country and the world, with an emphasis on both specific features and similar features that unite societies. In this respect, it is necessary to promote a comprehensive vision of the cultural heritage in all its aspects, which is the bearer of the historical memory and identity that is to be preserved, the source and the factor of sustainable development, a tool for intercultural dialogue and rapprochement of cultures. Dialogue of cultures as an alternative to the growing confrontation in the global world allows us to seriously analyze those changes that have occurred as a result of the globalization and explosive nature of technological discoveries in the field of communication. The process of globalization is associated with both positive and negative consequences. Integration processes are one side of globalization, and the reverse side is the processes of «national disintegration», which destructively affect the cultural, political and economic components of the life of society. Global integration, thanks to the newest means of communication, can be realized in a system totalitarianism of a new type with completely unique possibilities of manipulating the consciousness of both the individual and the society as a whole, with the appearance of a democratic device. As a result of the development of communication technologies, the world passes from the system of local cultures to the formation of a new education — a «global culture».
In the context of globalization, international aspects of the dialogue of cultures are of particular importance. Today, the world is undergoing a profound transformation of the geopolitical landscape, aggravation of social and interethnic contradictions. Global planetary processes are not only accompanied by interpenetration and mutual enrichment of cultures, but also jeopardize the identity of countries and peoples, give rise to a sense of danger of inter-civilization split. Global challenges of the beginning of the century and large-scale tasks in the field of international relations in the context of globalization give the interaction of cultures an increasing importance. An alternative viable strategy is the desire to harmonize relations, to establish a dialogue, to reduce conflict.
The problem of interpreting the national problems in the ethical and normative aspect - within the framework of two alternative concepts of the cultural nation - is theoretically significant and actual in practice. Different concepts of nations presuppose and form a different character of the attitude of the individual towards it, expressing and fixing thereby different anthropologies. On the one hand, the nation is a category of philosophy of history, on the other - it is viewed as the result of state efforts, while the possibility of multinational states and their cultural homogeneity is allowed. This formulation of the problem opens up new prospects for understanding the key problems of intercultural interaction and searching for resources for optimizing these processes. The basis of cultural identity in the modern world is the recognition of one's own difference from other individuals or groups, the understanding of the uniqueness of one's own cultural values, language, customs and traditions.
The cultural history of the Great Silk Road shows that the unity of forces has always been the most effective form of people's response to historical challenges. The disintegration of a single space that for centuries connected the peoples close to each other is increasingly perceived as a great loss, with which many of today's difficulties and turmoil meet in the minds of people. Only unity opens up scope for their dynamic development.
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