Europe or Eurasia?

Abstract

For Russians, relations with Europe and, at the same time, attitudes to Europe are not a purely pragmatic issue. Russia’s relationship to Europe is deeply rooted in the questions of Russian identity and can hardly be solved proceeding from a simple calculation of mutual benefits. Characterizing the current and potential place of Russia in modern European processes, it is important to take into account not only objective realities but also the cultural and psychological motivation of the parties, emotions interwoven in the respective contexts, stereotypes, and conceptual associations.