Siberian Regionalism and Eurasianism: Complicated Relationships

Abstract

Siberian regionalism movement is discussed in the paper in relation to classical Eurasianism of the 1920s. the political differences between Siberian regionalism and Eurasianism were by no means accidental. They were a consequence of deep theoretical differences. The Siberian regional concept was based on the idea of Siberia as a separate economic and geographical region, completely different in its natural and climatic conditions from the European part of Russia. The regionalists focussed on the geographical originality of Russian Siberia, as well as its remoteness and isolation from the “metropolitan state” in geographic and economic terms. All this fundamentally contradicted the “Eurasian geography,” which as persistently smoothed out the geographical space of Russia, trying to present it more homogeneous than it really was. The mental maps of the regionalists and Eurasians did not coincide on the basic level: they both saw the geographic space of Russia in different ways, just as they perceived the structure of its economy. The analysis performed in the article may help to evaluate ideological foundations of modern Eurasian political blocks and alliances as well as Eurasian international legal initiatives.