Looking East

Over the years, countless historians, politicians and Slavophiles have asserted that the key to understanding Russia is in realizing that it is as much an Asian nation as a European one. In fact, some argue it is the Asian artifacts impressed on Russian history that make the country such a challenge for Western analysts.

Perhaps.

Yet the fact is that most Russians live in the European part of Russia, and most of the country’s economic activity takes place in the West. Of course, geographically, most of the country is east of the Urals. As well, most of its historical colonization was eastward, most of its current borders touch Asian nations, and most all of its valued natural resources are in Siberia.