What is Eurasianism?
Eurasianism is a body of geopolitical and cultural ideas that arose among Russian thinkers in the 1920s. It says that Russia and its neighbors form a separate world, which it calls Eurasia. In this view, the region is not just a poor cousin of Europe, nor just part of Asia. It is a civilization with its own geography, history and values, shaped by the meeting of Slavic, Turkic and other peoples. Eurasianists were hostile to the idea that Western liberal democracy and capitalism are the universal model. They looked for a different order, led by a strong state and a shared ideology, resting on Orthodox Christianity and respect for the region's many faiths and peoples.
Core beliefs
- Russia-Eurasia is a distinct civilization with its own path.
- Western models of liberalism and individual rights do not suit the region.
- Geography binds the peoples of the Eurasian plain into a common destiny.
- The state should be strong and guided by a ruling idea or ideology.
- The region's many peoples and religions should be united under a shared culture.
- Economic life should serve the state and the community, not private profit alone.
History
The first Eurasianists were Russian emigres who had fled the revolution. The movement began in 1921 with a collection of essays called Exodus to the East, published in Sofia. The linguist Nikolai Trubetskoy argued in Europe and Mankind (1920) against the idea that European culture was the standard for the world. The geographer and economist Pyotr Savitsky developed the idea that Russia occupies a unique 'place-development,' where land and culture shape each other. The movement later split. Some members moved toward cooperation with the Soviet state, believing it might serve as a vehicle for Eurasian goals, while others kept their distance. The movement faded in the 1930s. In the late Soviet years the historian Lev Gumilev revived interest with his ideas about peoples and their rise and fall, and after 1991 a new wave of writers, often called neo-Eurasianists, brought the ideas into Russian politics and into debates in countries such as Kazakhstan.
Variants
Classical Eurasianism of the 1920s was cultural and religious, and it spoke of an 'ideocracy,' meaning rule by a governing class committed to a single idea. Neo-Eurasianism after the Soviet collapse is more geopolitical. It sees a global struggle between land powers, which it links with Russia, and sea powers, which it links with the Atlantic world. Some versions stress economic integration of former Soviet states, while others take a harsher nationalist or imperial line.
Criticisms
Critics say Eurasianism gives a cultural cover to authoritarian rule and to Russian dominance over its neighbors. Historians argue that its picture of a united Eurasian civilization hides deep differences between peoples, and that its theories of national destiny rest on weak evidence. Some neo-Eurasian writers have been criticized for fierce hostility to the West and for justifying territorial expansion. Supporters of the idea reply that it is a defense of cultural diversity against the pressure of a single global model, and that many Eurasianists stressed cooperation between peoples as equals.
In practice
Eurasianist language has been used in Russia and other former Soviet states to argue for closer ties among them, and it has influenced talk of regional economic unions. How far it guides actual policy is disputed, since governments mix many motives. On the 12 axes it scores strongly toward Strong leader on Authority and Strength on Foreign policy, with a lean toward Traditional on Morality and National identity on Culture.