A survey of young Russians found that some 58% either strongly or somewhat agree that Russia is not a European country. Only 36% believe it is European. Hat tip to RealClearWorld.com for the link.
It is certainly true geographically that a majority of Russian territory is located in Asia, although a majority of Russians reside in the European part, that is, west of the Ural Mountains. These mundane facts were not what was measured.
I suspect what the poll discovered was that most Russians understand their country’s interests to lie elsewhere, rather than as part of something loosely defined as “Europe” or more specifically with the EU. In this understanding they are most likely correct.
The study also found most young Russians are not fond of NATO. Since NATO was conceived to keep “the Americans in, the Russians out, and the Germans down,” their attitudes are both logical and well-founded.
Mind you, as originally conceived, the slogan referred to “the Soviets” instead of the Russians. The two were often used interchangeably by non-Soviets who understood the USSR to be a Russian empire, flying the false (or at least misleading) flag of ideological unity.
Putin’s rather famous characterization of the Soviet fall in 1991 as one of history’s grand tragedies certainly underscores the reality of the USSR being a Russian empire. His eulogy could just as well been given by Churchill bemoaning the loss of a British empire upon which the sun never set, until 1946 when it rather conclusively did.
