My Russian section now returns with probably the most important single subject for any foreigner trying to comprehend the mystery of the Russian mind.
Wrong are those Western experts who have customarily looked at Russia as some combat zone between the two sharply conflicting internal ideologies: cosmopolitanism and Russophilia (or Slavophilism, which is, of course, a different word, but not quite that different, in terms of our present purpose).
I can understand the angle of such experts. Russia for them represents a strategic enemy. Nothing want they better than to set one of these groups (pro-Western freedom lovers) against the other (uncouth xenophobic retrogrades), and if the resulting fire should burn half of Russia, they could do splendidly, thank you!, with a dramatically weakened foe!As I said, I can understand where these experts are coming from, but I am sorry to disappoint them in their ambitious dreams. It is true that in Russian history past and present there have been quite a few pure Russia-hating cosmopolitans, and, on the opposing side, quite a few pure xenophobic Russophiles , but these have essentially been extremists, neither group fit to represent Russia. (After all, a Mr. Breivik does not represent Norway, does he?)
The fact is that both cosmopolitanism and Russophilia are two necessary-- and complementary-- sides of the Russian mind. When one or the other of them is missing from the mix, the result is not a peculiar “ideology” but a deficiency, and only in this fashion can this essential Russian dichotomy be understood, for all intents and purposes.
An excellent example of this deeply-seated Russian attitude: eager to learn from the West, yet profoundly nationalistic in spirit, was Peter the Great: a zealous cosmopolitan and a great Russia-loving patriot, in one. I will be turning my attention next to Peter and another remarkable phenomenon, Catherine the Great.
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