History Main / RussiaIsWestern

* Becoming a NATO and EU member is actually a possible scenario for Russia's future.

** Modern European far-rights that are not aligned with Putin's views or the whole Eurasian movement still have such [[HordesFromTheEast "Russia is an Asiatic horde"]] views, which only exacerbated with the war in UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}}.

** Modern European far-rights that are not aligned with Putin's views or the whole Eurasian movement still have such views, which only exacerbated with the war in UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}}.

** Modern European far-rights that are not aligned with Russia still have such views.

* Defied by ThoseWackyNazis. Part of their propaganda effort to justify Operation Barbarossa was the claim that Russia was an Asiatic country, often accompanied by racial imagery of the Soviet Union's ethnic minorities.

Some of the nations that once were part of Russia such as the Baltics and Finland are considered western, however. The Central Asian nations are obvious, and the three Caucasus nations of Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan find themselves in a similar bridge with Russia.

Nations once part of Russia such as the Baltics, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova are considered western, however. The Central Asian nations are obvious, and the three Caucasus nations of Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan find themselves in a similar bridge with Russia.

* In ''[[VideoGame/OperationFlashpointCodemasters Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising]]'', the post-Soviet Russia is a Western-aligned country that locked up in border conflicts in Siberia against China, in which they requested US support to regain control of the disputed Skira Island from Chinese occupation forces.

* In [[VideoGame/OperationFlashpointCodemasters Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising]], the post-Soviet Russia is a Western-aligned country that locked up in border conflicts in Siberia against China, in which they requested US support to regain control of the disputed Skira Island from Chinese occupation forces.

* In [[Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising VideoGame/OperationFlashpointCodemasters]], the post-Soviet Russia is a Western-aligned country that locked up in border conflicts in Siberia against China, in which they requested US support to regain control of the disputed Skira Island from Chinese occupation forces.

* Becoming a NATO and EU member is actually a possible scenario for Russia's future, but even amid detente, relations with NATO and the EU are likely to sour as they are to sweeten.

* In ''Anime/BubblegumCrisis'' 2032 continuity, Russia, together with Germany, is the most important member of the franchise's version of the EU, and helped Japan to both rebuild after the disastrous 2023 New Kanto Earthquake, and to maintain its neutrality in the 2025 Sino-American war. Well, at least in one version of the timeline. The first episode, created before TheGreatPoliticsMessUp and the end of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, discusses that the critical technology may leak to ''[[DirtyCommies the Communists]]''.

[[caption-width-right:350:Russia, the EU member state]]

-->-- ''UsefulNotes/ZbigniewBrzezinski''

%%** UsefulNotes/{{Africa}} is also in a very similar situation like Russia and the Eastern European countries, but unlike those countries, Africans consider themselves as a very separated entity from the western civilization, due to the centuries-long history of European colonization. Some Asian countries, especially East Asian ones, consider Africa as part of the western world due to the already mentioned points, something that angers many Africans to no end. Western countries generally see African countries as separate from them however (due to the corruption and human rights abuses that often occur).

** After the end of the Cold War, this was distorted to very unfortunate undertones that still endures to this day, especially when dealing with products made in Asian countries (and Russia) and exported to western countries, and it can be classified to any of these following cases: Any reference to "the West" in English-speaking media (and other western countries, for the sake of fairness) could be refering to 1) all western countries, plus Russia, Latin America and the Slavic countries, 2) all the member countries of the NATO, 3) all the countries from the Anglosphere, and in the most extreme cases, 3) the U.S. and Canada, and finally, 4) [[EagleLand the United States exclusively]].

** After the end of the Cold War, this was distorted to very unfortunate undertones that still endures to this day, especially when dealing with products made in Asian countries (and Russia) and exported to western countries, and it can be classified to any of these following cases: Any reference to "the West" in English-speaking media (and other western countries, for the sake of fairness) could be refering to 1)All western countries, plus Russia, Latin America and the Slavic countries, 2)All the member countries of the NATO, 3)All the countries from the Anglosphere, and in the most extreme cases, 3)The U.S. and Canada, and finally, 4)[[EagleLand The United States exclusively]].

* Russia and the Slavic countries are not the only ones which suffer of this dilemma, as there's some countries with similar situations:
** UsefulNotes/{{Israel}} is a very notable example, and for a myriad of reasons: While it is located in Asia, specifically in West Asia (aka The Middle East), cultural and politically speaking it belongs to both the Western and the European sphere of influence. This is because most of its native population are immigrants from other countries, mainly Europe and America, and as such, their culture is very different, even if compared with other Asian countries outside the Middle East, like India, Japan, both Koreas, China, etc. Even Japan and South Korea, both East Asian countries with very notable western influences, are still very different regarding their relationship with western culture compared with Israel.
** UsefulNotes/{{Turkey}} is in a similar situation to Israel, except the continents are swapped: Turkey is culturally Eastern but politically part of the Western world due to a combination of reasons, including having a secular version of Islam and being a member of NATO.
** While not as exaggerated as the previous examples, UsefulNotes/{{Mexico}} is this as well in regard to its relationship with both English-speaking North America (U.S. and Canada) and the rest of Latin America. While being a Latin American country at heart, Mexico is more related to the already mentioned countries mainly because traditionally Mexico has always sought help from both of them when needed, and it rarely does with their Latin American neighbors. This is also for many reasons: Mexico, along with Costa Rica and Puerto Rico, was one of the three Latin American countries which didn't suffer being ruled by military dictatorships that were in vogue in the region during most of the 20th century, and its role was to be the OnlySaneMan or being a neutral actor with regards on regional politics. On the other hand, being close to the States caused Mexico to assimilate many elements of the American culture more easily compared with its neighbors, but despite this, Mexico has traditionally kept a neutral, or negative stance regarding many of the politics from the U.S. and sometimes, it has even defied them without serious consequences, compared with everyone else in the region.[[note]]The reason why the States had not dealt with Mexico with the same severity as the rest of the region is due to its geopolitical position; destabilizing it would likely cause millions of refugees to try to enter the U.S., something that already happened on a minor scale during the Mexican Revolution and the Cristero War.[[/note]]
** UsefulNotes/{{Africa}} is also in a very similar situation like Russia and the Eastern European countries, but unlike those countries, Africans consider themselves as a very separated entity from the western civilization, due to the centuries-long history of European colonization. Some Asian countries, especially East Asian ones, consider Africa as part of the western world due to the already mentioned points, something that angers many Africans to no end. Western countries generally see African countries as separate from them however (due to the corruption and human rights abuses that often occur).
** Latin Americans zig-zags with this trope, [[BrokenBase depending of which person you're talking to]]: Unlike Africans, the people of that region, mainly those with mixed ancestry (mestizos) or with European origins, consider their region as part of the western world, no matter what other western countries says otherwise, due to their more intimate links with both European and North American culture. On the other hand, those with Native origins consider their continent as a very different culture from the European one for the same reasons as Africans, a fact that piss them off continously, especially during the anniversary celebrations of the Discovery of America.
** Oceania is a very extreme version of this trope: UsefulNotes/{{Australia}} and UsefulNotes/NewZealand are considered western countries by anyone else, including their close neighbors, by the fact European colonization was much deeper than any other country of that continent and their ties with both Europe and the rest of the Anglosphere are also much closer, with everything that goes with it.

** UsefulNotes/{{Africa}} is also in a very similar situation like Russia and the Eastern European countries, but unlike those countries, Africans consider themselves as a very separated entity from the western civilization, due to the centuries-long painful story of European colonization. Some Asian countries, especially East Asian ones, consider Africa as part of the western world due to the already mentioned points, something that angers many Africans to no end.

* From the cultural aspect, Russia (particularly its literature, music, painting, philosophy and architecture) is classified as a part of the West. The fact that Slavs as a whole are unambiguously European helps the case. For Asian countries especially, the description of the Soviet-US conflict during the Cold War as "East vs. West" is liable to cause some head-scratching, since they see both Americans and Russians as part of the Western World.

* Many Russians also think their country belongs in the West, while others may actually be inclined to [[JustForFun/XMeetsY Eurasianism]] which [[TakeAThirdOption rejects the idea that Russia can be classified as East and West]], so that it has a form of exceptionalism and special role in the world as a bridge. Interestingly, almost nobody among Russians thinks that the country is Asian, largely due to the above mentioned point of Slavs being a European ethnicity.

In RealLife, it is a matter of debate whether Russia should be seen as a Western country or as a separate entity (possibly a "bridge" between East and West); however, most agree that Russia is culturally closer to Europe and the West than to any other civilizational type (such as Middle Eastern states or Central Asian countries, which were previously part of the Russian empire). The issue is that if one were to look at works presented even before the east-west divide was cemented in the ColdWar, the Russian Empire was considered to be distant enough (and also due to most of its land being east of the Urals and in demographics) to have a lot of Orientalist tropes applied to it. Nor is this idea exclusive to Western Europe. Russian monarchs as far back as Peter the Great even made it a point back then to "westernize", showing this idea is OlderThanSteam.

** UsefulNotes/{{Israel}} is a very notable example, and for a myriad of reasons: While that country is located in Asia, especifically in West Asia (aka The Middle East), cultural and politically speaking Israel belongs to both the Western and the European sphere of influence. [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment Without going too far on this, for obvious reasons]], this is because most of its native population are immigrants from other countries, mainly Europe and America, and as such, their culture is very different, even if compared with other Asian countries outside the Middle East, like India, Japan, both Koreas, China, etc. Even Japan and South Korea, both East Asian countries with very notable western influences, are still very different regarding their relationship with the western culture compared with Israel.
** UsefulNotes/{{Turkey}} is in a similar situation like Israel, except the continents are swapped out, as Turkey is culturally Eastern but politically part of the Western world by a combination of reasons, including having a secular version of Islam and being a member of the NATO.
** While not exaggerated as the previous examples, UsefulNotes/{{Mexico}} is this as well, but on regard with its relationship with both English-speaking North America (U.S. and Canada) and the rest of Latin America. While being a Latin American country at heart, Mexico is more related with the already mentioned countries mainly because traditionally Mexico has always sought help from both of them when needed, and it rarely does with their Latin American neighbors. This is also for many reasons: Mexico, along with Costa Rica and Puerto Rico, was one of the three Latin American countries which didn't suffer being ruled by military dictatorships that were in vogue in the region during most of the 20th century, and its role was to be the OnlySaneMan or being a neutral actor with regards on regional politics. On the other hand, being close to the States caused Mexico to assimilate many elements of the American culture more easily compared with its neighbors, but despite this, Mexico has traditionally kept a neutral, or negative stance regarding many of the politics from the U.S. and sometimes, it has even defied them without serious consecuences, compared with everyone else in the region.[[note]]The reason why the States had not dealt with Mexico with the same severity as the rest of the region is due to its geopolitical position as trying to desestabilize that country will likely cause to millions of illegal aliens to trying to enter the U.S., something that already happened in minor scale during the Mexican Revolution and the Cristero War.[[/note]]

* In ''Anime/BubblegumCrisis'' 2032 continuity, Russia, together with Germany, is the most important member of the franchise's version of the EU, and helped Japan to both rebuild after the disastrous 2023 New Kanto Earthquake, and to maintain its neutrality in the 2025 Sino-American war.

** UsefulNotes/{{Israel}} is a very notable example, and for a myriad of reasons: While that country is located in Asia, especifically in West Asia (aka The Middle East), cultural and politically speaking Israel belongs to both the Western and the European sphere of influence. [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment Without going too far on this, for obvious reasons]], this is because most of its native population are inmigrants from other countries, mainly Europe and America, and as such, their culture is very different, even if compared with other Asian countries outside the Middle East, like India, Japan, both Koreas, China, etc. Even Japan and South Korea, both East Asian countries with very notable western influences, are still very different regarding their relationship with the western culture compared with Israel.