The symbolics of the border in post-Soviet political mythology

Abstract According to a recent poll conducted by VTsIOM, only a quarter of Russians ‘consider themselves Europeans’, with approximately 55% claiming that they ‘never’ felt they belonged to the history and culture of Europe. The remaining 20% had difficulty in answering the question. The poll also showed that for an absolute majority of Russians questioned, neither the largest countries of the West, nor the industrialised countries of the East, let alone Islamic states, offered an attractive pattern of development. Approximately 60% think that Russia has ‘its own special way’.