Communication Between Cultures

(Sean Pound) #1
Daniels summarizes the differences between U.S. and Russian formative historical
perspectives:
It is of greatest importance for Americans to appreciate how different was Russia’s interna-
tional environment from the circumstances of the young United States. Russia found itself
in a world of hostile neighbors, the United States in secure continental isolation. Living
under great threats and equally great
temptations, Russia had developed a
tradition of militarized absolutism that
put the highest priority on commit-
ting its meager resources to meet those
threats and exploit those
temptations.^30
Russia’s historical political heritage has helped mold the contemporary Russian
worldview. Esler depicts that heritage in the following:“Russia’s political tradition
has historically been autocratic, from the legacy of the Byzantine emperors and Tartar
khans, through the heavy-handed authoritarianism of Peter the Great, to the totali-
tarian regime of Joseph Stalin.”^31 To give you a fuller appreciation of the tradition of
Russia being governed by an autocratic, centralized government, a brief overview of
the establishment and development of the Russian state is provided.
Early historical records indicate that during the ninth century, a series of city-states
was established along the waterways of the western Russian plain, with Novgorod and
Kiev the most prominent. Princes ruled these city-states, and Kiev developed into a
major center of government until the late twelfth century, when political decay set in.
The arrival of the Mongols in 1240 brought about the final collapse of the Kievan
state. Although the Mongols maintained a military presence in Russia for well over
200 years, they were generally satisfied to rule from a distance as long as tribute
was rendered. Mongol rule was replaced in the fifteenth century by the rise and ulti-
mate establishment of a consolidated Russia governed from Moscow. From the early
sixteenth century until the Russian Revolution in 1917, the Russian peoples were

CONSIDER THIS


Can you think of examples to help explain the notion that Russia
remains in a transitional phase?

TABLE 5.2 Country Statistics: Russian Federation^32
LOCATION EUROPE AND NORTHERN ASIA
Size 17 ; 098 ;242 km^2 ; world’s largest country
Population 142.47 million (July 2014 est.); tenth-largest population
Ethnic groups Russian 77.7%, Tatar 3.7%, Ukrainian 1.4%, Bashkir 1.1%,
Chuvash 1%, Chechen 1%, other 10.2%, unspecified 3.9% (2010 est.)
Note: Over 190 ethnic groups represented in the 2010 census.
Government Federation
Language Russian (official) 96.3%, Dolgang 5.3%, German 1.5%, Chechen
1%, Tatar 3%, other 10.3%
Note: Total exceeds 100% due some people giving more than one
answer on census (2010 est.).
Religions Russian Orthodox 15% to 20%, Muslim 10% to 15%, other
Christian 2% (2006 est.)
Note: Estimates are of active worshippers; due to seventy years of
Soviet rule, there are large numbers of nonpracticing believers and
nonbelievers.

Contemporary Social Issues 169

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