Looking West from Russia: The Eurasianist Folly
Eurasianists who see Russia’s soul in raiders from the eastern steppes have always led their nation to danger and decay. Progress and prosperity have come under leaders who looked West.
Before long, we shall have to get back to the idea of a “Helsinki II” discussion over charting a new road map, showing the path towards a united Europe. Of course, this is still just a possibility, not an inevitability. But it is far more realistic than nostalgic, neoimperial dreams of Russian grandeur.
Vladimir Lukin is a research professor at the National Research University Higher School of Economics in Moscow. He was Russia’s ambassador to the United States in 1992–1994, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Supreme Soviet (1990–1992) and the State Duma (1994–2000), Deputy Chairman of the State Duma (2000–2004) and Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation (2004–2014).
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