8 Comments
User's avatar
Abhcán's avatar

A great explanation of Moscow's obsession with the "Anglo".

Expand full comment
Les Vitailles's avatar

When Russian Eurasianists say they are defending the true West, they're really arguing for a return to the obscurantism of Ivan IV The Terrible. The Renaissance was in full swing in Western Europe during his reign, by comparison.

It is an effort to turn Russian political and social backwardness into a virtue, sending them deeper into the hole they're in.

Czechs and Slovaks are a far better examples of successful Slavic peoples.

Expand full comment
FranciscoAlegre's avatar

Why did the aristocrats speak in French and suffer of such anglophilia, then?

Expand full comment
Randy Foote's avatar

Moscow is the Third Rome. Rome fell to the barbarians; Constantinople to the Turks. Only Moscow still holds the true Christian spirit, and there shall not be another. This is an old Russian truth.

Expand full comment
Abhcán's avatar

I wouldn't take the Russians' word for it that they are "Rome" and others the are barbarians. Or that they defend Christianity.

"Russians are Torturing Ukrainian Christians"

https://stevenmoore.substack.com/p/russians-are-torturing-ukrainian

"Russian State v Religion"

https://beefeaterresearch.substack.com/p/russian-state-v-religion-026

"The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and Disinformation Campaigns: A Tool of modern Hybrid Warfare"

https://enlightentheday.substack.com/p/the-russian-orthodox-church-roc-and

"Moscow Church Losing Ground Throughout Post-Soviet Space, Including in Russia"

https://jamestown.substack.com/p/moscow-church-losing-ground-throughout

Expand full comment
Randy Foote's avatar

Not that I believe it, but they have considered themselves the Third Rome for 500 years. It is an underlying element of their cultural idea , that keeps manifesting in different ways.

Expand full comment
An American Writer & Essayist's avatar

Interesting article on Russia and how they perceive the West. I think one reason why they perceive themselves separately from the Wesr is because they 1. Behind in industrializng. 2. They took influence from the Greeks of Byzantium instead of the modern west.

One more thing, I’m not a Russia-shill, though I like learning about Russian history. I do share one thing with them: Their rejection of Rousseau. Any Westerner who takes Rousseau seriously should not be taken seriously themselves.

Expand full comment
Kirill Krasilnikov's avatar

Aleksey Khomyakov was an unabashed Anglophile

Expand full comment