Why Isn't Russia Considered a Western State? (Romans, Japan, tanks)

[prettyvacant]

Originally Posted by schizotypalAureliusz

'I never heard of' is more invalid that argument 'I heard about'

'I never heard' here is polite "I don't believe you and I think you are wrong and biased". You make vague and weird statements and don't care to provide any proofs.

[ABQConvict]

Originally Posted by Geography Freak

I haven't bothered researching the evolution of the word, but it seems to me the concept of Western in its current incarnation was originally little else than shorthand for Protestant.

Along with the contributions of classical Greece and Rome, the development and spread of Christianity in Europe via the Catholic church is the cornerstone of the definition of Western Civilization. The protestant reformation is relatively late chapter in the story.

At least that is what they teach in American High Schools and the Western Civ 101 course I took in my freshman year of university.

[schizotypalAureliusz]

Originally Posted by prettyvacant

'I never heard' here is polite "I don't believe you and I think you are wrong and biased". You make vague and weird statements and don't care to provide any proofs.

What proofs? Statements of historians, who twenty years ago proved that the Edison stole light bulb project from Russian peasant, and the Polish policemen had fled from a trip to the Katyn forest to Manchuria? They don't have time to check, what attitude have Russian to Moniuszko or Bogusławski, because they was trying to discovered, why Polish want convince peacefully set Hitler for the attack on the The Soviet Union which was fighting with English fascism. Or something like that - actual state depend on the current interpretation of the fifth book of Ulyanov.
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Stanisław Tym on the benefit of Alosza Andriejew about Eastern history policy:

4. Stanis

[Mightyqueen801]

There is a quote that I can't find, so I must not have it exactly right; however, it goes something like this:

Russia's problem is that it sees itself as the easternmost of the Western countries, when in fact it is the westernmost of the Eastern countries.

Nelson DeMille uses it at the beginning of one of the chapters of The Charm School, but I don't have a copy.

[GTOlover]

I thought the east vs. west came from the Berlin wall and the as the soviets in ontrol of the east Germans and we had the west Germans

[erasure]

Originally Posted by Mightyqueen801

Russia's problem is that it sees itself as the easternmost of the Western countries, when in fact it is the westernmost of the Eastern countries.

Someone was trying to say something profound and original apparently, but didn't achieve the purpose.

[Tom Lennox 70]

Originally Posted by cisco kid

You have to actually be in the west to be called a western country.

Did you fail geography?

This is not ENTIRELY true as Australia and New Zealand are considered Western countries even though they are to the east of China, while people do not always consider Mexico and the rest of Latin America to be western despite their location. Also, Austria is considered a Western country while Poland and Hungary are not Western countries.

Russia is culturally and historically different from the West. They use a different alphabet and have the Russian/Eastern Orthodox religion. They also were communist for a long time and even today there is not real democracy there.

[Tom Lennox 70]

With that video of the new year in Moscow, that song REALLY evoked Soviet images like Red Army tanks and massive armies parading through Red Square. There is just "something" about the music that despite being set to fireworks, it just makes me think of the Soviet Union. Was this song also the Soviet national anthem, or was the Internationale, the worldwide communist anthem, the Soviet anthem? I could also imagine that music set to a North Korean military show presided by the Kim Jong family.

Also I tend to think that "modern Russia" was founded by Lenin during the communist revolution.

[erasure]

Originally Posted by Tom Lennox 70

With that video of the new year in Moscow, that song REALLY evoked Soviet images like Red Army tanks and massive armies parading through Red Square.

And it should. Putin returned the anthem written originally in Stalin's times.
( Stalin's name simply has been removed from it long time ago.)
So what seems to be the problem?

Also I tend to think that "modern Russia" was founded by Lenin during the communist revolution.

Lenin is turning in his grave looking at modern Russia))))
All great Russian revolutionaries do))))

[majoun]

Originally Posted by Tom Lennox 70

This is not ENTIRELY true as Australia and New Zealand are considered Western countries even though they are to the east of China, while people do not always consider Mexico and the rest of Latin America to be western despite their location. Also, Austria is considered a Western country while Poland and Hungary are not Western countries.

Russia is culturally and historically different from the West. They use a different alphabet and have the Russian/Eastern Orthodox religion. They also were communist for a long time and even today there is not real democracy there.

Hungary is a Western country. So is Poland.
Russia isn't - not only because of the alphabet and the religion but also the mentality. Democracy has been a minority belief in Russia. Russians care more about competence and strength than they do about freedom. The "Good Czar" mentality still exists (although I hope it will change, I can't be too optimistic)

Before they were communist, they were like a Christian version of Saudi Arabia under the czars, despite some insufficient attempts at reform. They come from a cultural mindset more foreign to the western mentality than Latin America, for example.