The (paper) provides a general account of the different lines of argumentation which have marked the political discussion on the "national school" in Russia since 1988. The authors follow the rather liberal views on nationality policies held by the department for education. Special attention should be paid to the thesis of the mediating function of Russian culture between "national" and world culture. The authors formulate explicitly three different lines of development within education policy concerning the political treatment of the "national" question. Special emphasis is laid on the results of the conflicting ideas. (DIPF/Abstract übernommen