Problems of self-identification in European contemporary society

The subject matter of this article is constituted by issues of evolution of the self-identification problem in European countries in a period from 1991 till the present time. The author operates on the assumption that the system of values and attitudes shared by the society is decisive for the social self-identification. It is conjectured that the ideological system of “universal value" prevailed in the Western world during the Cold War has collapsed in the first post-USSR years. It is the author’s opinion that there are two main tendencies at present in Europe which will determine in the future the self-identification of the Europeans which are as follows: the nationalistic tendency and the Pan-European one.