Russophobia
Encyclopedia
Russophobia refers to a diverse spectrum of prejudices, dislikes or fears of Russia
, Russians
, or Russian culture
. Its opposite is Russophilia
.
In modern international politics the term "Russophobia" is also used more specifically to describe clichés preserved from the times of the Cold War
. Many prejudice
s, often introduced as elements of political war against the Soviet Union
, are still observed in the discussions of the relations with Russia—whose leadership are seen as manipulating perceptions of Russia and its history by means of deliberate distortions and omissions in representing its Soviet past. The extent of Russophobia varies country by country and depends not only on the geography but also the fraction of the society. The intensity of Russophobia in various countries evolved throughout history, and relies on old stereotypes linking Russians to organized crime/mafia and other activities of this genre.
pursued by Imperial Russia and the Soviet Union
, and backlash against modern policies of the Russian government. However, Russophobia has a long history and already existed for many centuries before Russia became one of the major powers in Europe
.
During the 19th century, the competition between Russia and Great Britain for the spheres of influence
and colonies (see e.g. The Great Game
and Berlin Congress) was possibly one reason for Russophobia in Great Britain
. British propaganda
of the time portrayed Russians as uncultured Asia
tic barbarians. These views spread to other parts of the world and were reflected in the literature of late the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The Prometheism
political strategy conceived by Polish
chief of state Józef Piłsudski intended to weaken Tsarist Russia and later the Soviet Union
.
The influential British economist John Maynard Keynes
, a strong supporter of eugenics
, wrote controversially on Russians, even in published works, claiming that there was an inherent "beastliness in the Russian nature” as well as "cruelty and
stupidity".
In the 1930s, Adolf Hitler
enhanced the Russophobe stereotype
s with his racial theory of subhuman
s, in part to rationalize and justify the German
invasion of the Soviet Union and the atrocities committed against its populace. The notion of Russian — and Slavs in general — as an "inferior race" was actively used in Nazi propaganda.
Russophobia reached a global scale during the Cold War
due to the central and historical backing of communism, though this form came about because of politics rather than race. They were discriminated against (largely by the west
) for fear of communist takeover of the "Free World
". The Sino-Soviet split
saw more of a stand against Soviet communism rather than communism in general.
It is difficult to draw a distinction from a casual xenophobia
, observable for any two peoples living side by side or even intermixed and historically involved in armed conflicts. Also it might not be always easy to separate actions unpopular in Russia caused by rational political concerns of its neighbors from the actions caused by an irrational Russophobia. The opinions on these matters are highly subjective and may vary a great deal between different historians.
Dr. Vlad Sobell of Daiwa Research Institute (a member company of Daiwa Securities Group
) claims that what he sees as "Russophobic sentiment" in the West is a result of the West failing to adapt and change its historical attitude towards Russia, even as Russia has in his opinion ditched its ideology and opted for pure pragmatism, successfully driving its economic revival. He further claims that the west remained stuck with its unchanged and unchanging beliefs. He continues, that if anything, the orthodoxy was further entrenched by the West's perception, that, having won the epic fight against totalitarianism, it must forever remain the only game in town.
of population with a negative perception of Russia was 62% in Finland
, 57% in Norway
, 42% in the Czech Republic
and Switzerland
, 37% in Germany
, 32% in Denmark
and Poland
, and 23% in Estonia
. However, according to the poll, the people of Kosovo
had the lowest opinion of Russia: 73% of Kosovar respondents said their opinion was "very negative" or "fairly negative". Overall, the percentage of respondents with a positive view of Russia was only 31%.
A Russian commentator Vyacheslav Nikonov
claimed Russia’s image is so negative in the West by quoting his Canadian friend: "The main problem is that these Russians have white skin. If they had been green, or pink, or came from Mars...or had flowers sticking out of their ears, then everybody would have said – well, these people are different, like Turks, or Chinese, or Japanese. We have no questions about the Japanese. They are different, their civilisation is different. But these Russians ... they are white but they have
totally different brains ... which is thoroughly suspicious."http://www.eu-russiacentre.org/assets/files/Europe%20on%20Russian%20TV%20screens.pdf
, there is deep disapproval of everything Russian in Estonia, this however has been challenged in a poll conducted by Gallup International which suggests that 23% of Estonians see Russia in negative light while 34% have positive attitude towards Russia.
According to Estonian philosopher Jaan Kaplinski
, the birth of anti-Russian sentiment in Estonia dates back to 1940, as there was little or none during the czarist
and first independence period, when anti-German sentiment
predominated. Kaplinski states the imposition of Soviet rule in 1940 and subsequent actions by Soviet authorities led to the replacement of anti-German sentiment with anti-Russian sentiment within just one year, and characterized it as "one of the greatest achievements of the Soviet authorities". Kaplinski supposes that anti-Russian sentiment could disappear as quickly as anti-German sentiment did in 1940, however he believes the prevailing sentiment in Estonia is sustained by Estonia's politicians who employ "the use of anti-Russian sentiments in political combat," together with the "tendentious attitude of the [Estonian] media." Kaplinski says that a "rigid East-West attitude is to be found to some degree in Estonia when it comes to Russia, in the form that everything good comes from the West and everything bad from the East"; this attitude, in Kaplinski's view, "probably does not date back further than 1940 and presumably originates from Nazi propaganda."
The Estonian businessman and politician Tiit Vähi
, who briefly served as Estonia's prime minister in 1992 and once more in 1995-1997, described "overall anti-Russian sentiment" as a feature of the populist current in the country's politics, raising it as one among a number of issues with the ruling coalition of Prime Minister Andrus Ansip
.
European discrimination watchgroups express worries about the usage of a highly derogatory Estonian term for Russians, tibla
, in mainstream media.
, ethnic Russians in Latvia are subjected to ethnic discrimination.
Latvian American doctor and former member of the Civic Union
, Aivars Slucis wrote op-eds in the New York Times and Washington Post in which he explains to the Americans that Russians have invading other nations in their genes, and they can only understand the language of force. Slucis wrote that he would personally never treat a Russian patient who came into his office. In November 2010, Ģirts Valdis Kristovskis
, the Latvian Foreign Affairs Minister, became embroiled in a scandal with Slucis after email correspondence between the two from 2009 was released by journalist Lato Lapsa. In one of the letters, Slucis stated that he would not be able to treat Russians with the same level of care that we would Latvians, and also stated that in the event of a shortage of medical supplies he would deny Russians the right to access to those supplies. In reply, Kristovskis stated that he approved of "both his assessment and vision of the situation". According to Lapsa, Kristovskis was also in agreeance with Slucis advocating for freezing and reviewing all citizenships granted after 1991 with the thought of rescinding a majority.
Journalist Fatima Tlisova
released an article in 2009 discussing the frequent occurrences of Russian Orthodox crosses being sawed off buildings and thrown off mountains in Circassia, due to the cross being associated with the people who initiated the mass expulsions of Circassians
.
General Zuo Zongtang
called for war against Russia during the Ili crisis, saying: "We shall first confront them [the Russians] with arguments...and then settle it on the battlefields."
When Russians consorted with Uyghur prostitutes, in Kashgar
, China, it set off rage against them.
In 1930s, a White Russian
driver accompanying the Nazi agent Georg Vasel in Xinjiang
was afraid to meet the Hui
General Ma Zhongying
, saying "You know how the Tungans hate the Russians." Tungan is another name for Hui. Georg passed the Russian driver off as German to get through. Ma Zhongying, a general in the Chinese army, then did battle against the Russians during the Soviet Invasion of Xinjiang
. He was chief of the Tungan 36th Division (National Revolutionary Army)
. His brother Ma Hushan
fought the Russians again, and killed many Russians in combat, leaving many graves at a memorial to war dead with Russian Orthodox crosses.
Uyghur
riots against white Russians in Xinjiang
during the Ili Rebellion occurred, with Uyghurs calling for White Russians to be expelled along with Han Chinese. White Russians fled out of fear.
In 1951, Chinese Muslim General Bai Chongxi
made a speech to the entire Muslim world calling for a war against Russia, and Bai also called upon Muslims to avoid the Indian leader Nehru, accusing him of being blind to Soviet imperialism.
According to recent polls 62% of Finnish citizens had a negative view of Russia. The main reasons are general distrust of major powers in world politics (in the same poll conducted during the Iraq War, 56% of Finns had a negative view of United States) and historically rooted antipathy. Deportation of Ingrian Finns
, autochthones of St. Petersburg, Ingria
and other Soviet repressions against its Finnish minorities have contributed negative view of Russia and Russians..
- happens with seamen and fishermen of the Russian fishing fleet
, therefore Japanese people tend to carry the stereotype
s associated with sailors over to Russians. According to a report by the Cabinet in Japan, the percentage of Japanese who dislike Russia is 15%. (Japanese dislike towards China is 35%, South Korea 20%, and North Korea 80%.)
ethnic clashes have been infrequent but, sometimes serious. The Kyrgyzstan
's 2005 Tulip Revolution
turned into an anti-Russian pogrom in Bishkek
.
The New York Times
reported after the Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza
that Gleb Pavlovsky
, an advisor to President of Russia Vladimir Putin
, complained during his 2005 visit to Warsaw
that "Poles talk about Russians the way anti-Semites talk about Jews."
On the other hand, Poland's foreign minister Adam Rotfeld thinks that Russian politicians are "looking for an enemy and...find it in Poland.".
According to Boris Makarenko, deputy director of a Moscow-based think tank
Center for Political Technologies
, anti-Russian sentiments have existed in Poland for more than 200 years. He said that much of the anti-Russian feelings in Poland is caused by grievances of the past.
The most contentious issue is the massacre of 22,000 Polish officers, priests and intellectuals in Katyn Forest
in 1940.
"It is easy to understand why, and I am not going to defend Russia either for three divisions of Poland [at the end of the 18 century] or many other [unjust things done to Poland]. These anti-Russian sentiments resurfaced in the recent decade and there are many examples of that." Makarenko said. He also noted that Poland had criticized Russia’s stance on human rights
or press freedom, and had clashed with Russia over the Orange Revolution
events in Ukraine
.
Jakub Boratyński, the director of international programs at the independent Polish think tank Stefan Batory Foundation
, said that anti-Russian feelings have substantially decreased since Poland joined the EU and NATO, and that Poles feel more secure than before, but he also admitted that many people in Poland still look suspiciously at Russian foreign-policy moves and are afraid Russia is seeking to "recreate an empire in a different form."
to Russia by the Ottoman Empire
in 1812 after its de facto annexation, and to the annexations during World War II and after by the Soviet Union of Northern Bukovina and Bessarabia
and the policies of ethnic cleansing, russification and deportations that have taken place in those territories against ethnic Romanians. Following WWII, Romania, an ally of the Nazi Germany
, was occupied by Soviet forces. Soviet dominance over the Romanian economy was manifested through the so-called Sovroms, exacting a tremendous economic toll ostensibly as war-time reparations. Overall, there is a negative perception of everything Russian, including language, culture and people, and of those who take interest in Russia, such individuals seen as pro-Communists or Russophiles.
have been encouraged to reject applicants with non-Turkmen surnames, especially ethnic Russians.
In a poll held by Kyiv International Sociology Institute in May 2009 in Ukraine
96% of respondents were positive about Russians
as ethnic group, 93% respected Russian Federation and 76% respected Russian establishment. In a poll held by Levada Center
in Russia
in June 2009 75% of respondents respected Ukrainians
as ethnic group but 55% were negative about Ukraine
as the state.
In contrast to these polls, statistics released October 21, 2010, according to the Institute of Sociology of National Academy of Science of Ukraine
, attitudes towards Russians have continued to decrease since 1994. In response to a question gauging tolerance of Russians, 15% of Western Ukrainians responded positively. In Central Ukraine, 30% responded positively (from 60% in 1994); 60% responded positively in Southern Ukraine (from 70% in 1994); and 64% responded positively in Eastern Ukraine (from 75% in 1994). Furthermore, 6-7% of Western Ukrainians would banish Russians entirely from Ukraine, and 7-8% in Central Ukraine responded similarly. This level of sentiment was not found in Southern or Eastern Ukraine.
The right-wing political party "Svoboda", small on the national scale (2011 polls in Ukraine put there support on between 4% and 5% of the total electorate), has invoked radical Russophobic rhetoric (see poster) and has electoral support enough to garner majority support in local councils, as seen in the Ternopil regional council
in Western Ukraine. Analysts explained Svoboda’s victory in Eastern Galicia during the 2010 Ukrainian local elections as a result of the policies of the Azarov Government
who were seen as too pro-Russian by the voters of "Svoboda".
in 2008.
and Russia's Severstal
did not finalize. According to the Russian daily Izvestiya, those opposing the merger "exploited the 'Russian threat' myth during negotiations with shareholders and, apparently, found common ground with the Europeans", while Boris Gryzlov
, speaker of the State Duma
observed that "recent events show that someone does not want to allow us to enter their markets." On 27 July 2006, the New York Times quoted the analysts as saying that many Western investors still think that anything to do with Russia is "a little bit doubtful and dubious" while others look at Russia in "comic book terms, as mysterious and mafya-run."
However, the same article also quoted Aleksandr Temerko, a former vice president of YUKOS
, the company which was broken up and sold off by the Russian government, saying that Western investors should treat take-overs by Russian companies with suspicion: "What if tomorrow they decide to grab Mordashov
[the oligarch in charge of Severstal
] and force him to sell his stock to a state company?... Then some K.G.B. agent will show up at Arcelor and say, 'I'm your new partner'.... Political motives are real; they exist.... Investors are right to fear them." Some Russian activists who are against the greater political control associated with the rule of Putin and the United Russia Party are still disappointed by such Western repulsion, however, as a lack of foreign economic presence and investment is, in their view, one of the reasons why the new government and the KGB can so easily interfere in business and economics. Arcelor shareholders themselves portrayed their doubts about Severstal's bid very differently, and completely unrelated to stereotypes of Russian business practice: they were worried about the manner in which the bid was being presented to them by the Arcelor management, who were in favour of the take-over, and the degree of personal control Mr. Mordashov would have over the new company.
, founder of the Johnson's Russia List
, said in interview to the Moscow News
: "I am sympathetic to the view that these days Putin and Russia are perhaps getting too dark a portrayal in most Western media. Or at least that critical views need to be supplemented with other kinds of information and analysis. An openness to different views is still warranted."
In 1995, years before Vladimir Putin
was elected to his first term, the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press reported: "coverage of Russia and its president, Boris Yeltsin
, was decidedly negative, even though national polls continue to find the public feeling positive toward Russia and largely uncritical of Yeltsin."
In February 2007 the Russian creativity agency E-generator put together a "rating of Russophobia" of Western media, using for the research articles concerning a single theme — Russia's chairmanship of G8, translated into Russian by InoSmi.Ru
. The score was composed for each edition, negative values granted for negative assessments of Russia, and positive values representing positive ones. The top in the rating were Newsday
(-43, U.S.), The Financial Times (-34, Great Britain), The Wall Street Journal
(-34, U.S.), Le Monde
(-30, France), while editions on the opposite side of the rating were Toronto Star
(+27, Canada) and The Conservative Voice (+26, U.S.) http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/dec/13/russia-west-media-stereotypes
Dr. Vlad Sobell claimed that an example of the anti-Russian bias in the West was that in his opinion President Putin was widely assumed to be guilty
of the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, without any evidence being considered as necessary. The only proof the Western press needed for Putin's guilt was, that the victim said so himself on his deathbed.
California
-based international relations
scholar Andrei Tsygankov
has remarked that anti-Russian political rhetoric coming from Washington
circles has received wide echo in American mainstream media, asserting that "Russophobia's revival is indicative of the fear shared by some U.S. and European politicians that their grand plans to control the world's most precious resources and geostrategic sites may not succeed if Russia's economic and political recovery continues."
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Russians
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
, or Russian culture
Russian culture
Russian culture is associated with the country of Russia and, sometimes, specifically with ethnic Russians. It has a rich history and can boast a long tradition of excellence in every aspect of the arts, especially when it comes to literature and philosophy, classical music and ballet, architecture...
. Its opposite is Russophilia
Russophilia
Russophilia is the love of Russia and/or Russians. The term is used in two basic contexts: in international politics and in cultural context. "Russophilia" and "Russophilic" are the terms used to denote pro-Russian sentiments, usually in politics and literature...
.
In modern international politics the term "Russophobia" is also used more specifically to describe clichés preserved from the times of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. Many prejudice
Prejudice
Prejudice is making a judgment or assumption about someone or something before having enough knowledge to be able to do so with guaranteed accuracy, or "judging a book by its cover"...
s, often introduced as elements of political war against the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, are still observed in the discussions of the relations with Russia—whose leadership are seen as manipulating perceptions of Russia and its history by means of deliberate distortions and omissions in representing its Soviet past. The extent of Russophobia varies country by country and depends not only on the geography but also the fraction of the society. The intensity of Russophobia in various countries evolved throughout history, and relies on old stereotypes linking Russians to organized crime/mafia and other activities of this genre.
History
Dislike of Russians is sometimes seen as a backlash of RussificationRussification
Russification is an adoption of the Russian language or some other Russian attributes by non-Russian communities...
pursued by Imperial Russia and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, and backlash against modern policies of the Russian government. However, Russophobia has a long history and already existed for many centuries before Russia became one of the major powers in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
During the 19th century, the competition between Russia and Great Britain for the spheres of influence
Sphere of influence
In the field of international relations, a sphere of influence is a spatial region or conceptual division over which a state or organization has significant cultural, economic, military or political influence....
and colonies (see e.g. The Great Game
The Great Game
The Great Game or Tournament of Shadows in Russia, were terms for the strategic rivalry and conflict between the British Empire and the Russian Empire for supremacy in Central Asia. The classic Great Game period is generally regarded as running approximately from the Russo-Persian Treaty of 1813...
and Berlin Congress) was possibly one reason for Russophobia in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
. British propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
of the time portrayed Russians as uncultured Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
tic barbarians. These views spread to other parts of the world and were reflected in the literature of late the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The Prometheism
Prometheism
Prometheism or Prometheanism was a political project initiated by Poland's Józef Piłsudski. Its aim was to weaken the Russian Empire and its successor states, including the Soviet Union, by supporting nationalist independence movements among the major non-Russian peoples that lived within the...
political strategy conceived by Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
chief of state Józef Piłsudski intended to weaken Tsarist Russia and later the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
The influential British economist John Maynard Keynes
John Maynard Keynes
John Maynard Keynes, Baron Keynes of Tilton, CB FBA , was a British economist whose ideas have profoundly affected the theory and practice of modern macroeconomics, as well as the economic policies of governments...
, a strong supporter of eugenics
Eugenics
Eugenics is the "applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population", usually referring to human populations. The origins of the concept of eugenics began with certain interpretations of Mendelian inheritance,...
, wrote controversially on Russians, even in published works, claiming that there was an inherent "beastliness in the Russian nature” as well as "cruelty and
stupidity".
In the 1930s, Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
enhanced the Russophobe stereotype
Stereotype
A stereotype is a popular belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings...
s with his racial theory of subhuman
Untermensch
Untermensch is a term that became infamous when the Nazi racial ideology used it to describe "inferior people", especially "the masses from the East," that is Jews, Gypsies, Poles along with other Slavic people like the Russians, Serbs, Belarussians and Ukrainians...
s, in part to rationalize and justify the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
invasion of the Soviet Union and the atrocities committed against its populace. The notion of Russian — and Slavs in general — as an "inferior race" was actively used in Nazi propaganda.
"Need, hunger, lack of comfort have been the Russians' lot for centuries. No false compassion, as their stomachs are perfectly extendible. Don't try to impose the German standards and to change their style of life. Their only wish is to be ruled by the Germans. <...> Help yourselves, and may God help you!" ("12 precepts for the German officer in the East", 1941)
Russophobia reached a global scale during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
due to the central and historical backing of communism, though this form came about because of politics rather than race. They were discriminated against (largely by the west
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
) for fear of communist takeover of the "Free World
Free World
The Free World is a Cold War-era term often used to describe states not under the rule of the Soviet Union, its Eastern European allies, China, Vietnam, Cuba, and other communist nations. The term often referred to states such as the United States, Canada, and Western European states such as the...
". The Sino-Soviet split
Sino-Soviet split
In political science, the term Sino–Soviet split denotes the worsening of political and ideologic relations between the People's Republic of China and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics during the Cold War...
saw more of a stand against Soviet communism rather than communism in general.
It is difficult to draw a distinction from a casual xenophobia
Xenophobia
Xenophobia is defined as "an unreasonable fear of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange". It comes from the Greek words ξένος , meaning "stranger," "foreigner" and φόβος , meaning "fear."...
, observable for any two peoples living side by side or even intermixed and historically involved in armed conflicts. Also it might not be always easy to separate actions unpopular in Russia caused by rational political concerns of its neighbors from the actions caused by an irrational Russophobia. The opinions on these matters are highly subjective and may vary a great deal between different historians.
Dr. Vlad Sobell of Daiwa Research Institute (a member company of Daiwa Securities Group
Daiwa Securities Group
is Japan's second largest securities brokerage after Nomura Securities Co..Major group members include Daiwa Securities Co.Ltd., which offers retail services such as online trading to individual investors and Daiwa Securities Capital Markets Co.Ltd...
) claims that what he sees as "Russophobic sentiment" in the West is a result of the West failing to adapt and change its historical attitude towards Russia, even as Russia has in his opinion ditched its ideology and opted for pure pragmatism, successfully driving its economic revival. He further claims that the west remained stuck with its unchanged and unchanging beliefs. He continues, that if anything, the orthodoxy was further entrenched by the West's perception, that, having won the epic fight against totalitarianism, it must forever remain the only game in town.
Claims of attitudes towards Russia and Russians by country
In the October of 2004, the International Gallup Organization announced that according to its poll, anti-Russia sentiment remained fairly strong throughout Europe and the West in general. It found that Russia was the least popular G-8 country globally. The percentagePercentage
In mathematics, a percentage is a way of expressing a number as a fraction of 100 . It is often denoted using the percent sign, “%”, or the abbreviation “pct”. For example, 45% is equal to 45/100, or 0.45.Percentages are used to express how large/small one quantity is, relative to another quantity...
of population with a negative perception of Russia was 62% in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, 57% in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, 42% in the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, 37% in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, 32% in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, and 23% in Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
. However, according to the poll, the people of Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
had the lowest opinion of Russia: 73% of Kosovar respondents said their opinion was "very negative" or "fairly negative". Overall, the percentage of respondents with a positive view of Russia was only 31%.
A Russian commentator Vyacheslav Nikonov
Vyacheslav Nikonov
Vyacheslav Nikonov is a Russian political scientist.He is a grandson of Vyacheslav Molotov, prominent Bolshevik and Soviet foreign minister under Joseph Stalin, and was named after the grandfather. Nikonov graduated from the History Department of Moscow State University in 1978 and has been...
claimed Russia’s image is so negative in the West by quoting his Canadian friend: "The main problem is that these Russians have white skin. If they had been green, or pink, or came from Mars...or had flowers sticking out of their ears, then everybody would have said – well, these people are different, like Turks, or Chinese, or Japanese. We have no questions about the Japanese. They are different, their civilisation is different. But these Russians ... they are white but they have
totally different brains ... which is thoroughly suspicious."http://www.eu-russiacentre.org/assets/files/Europe%20on%20Russian%20TV%20screens.pdf
Estonia
According to veteran German author, journalist and Russia-correspondent Gabriele Krone-SchmalzGabriele Krone-Schmalz
Gabriele Krone-Schmalz is a German broadcast journalist and author.- Biography :With an academic background in Eastern European history, political science, and Slavic studies, Krone-Schmalz holds a doctorate in history and political science...
, there is deep disapproval of everything Russian in Estonia, this however has been challenged in a poll conducted by Gallup International which suggests that 23% of Estonians see Russia in negative light while 34% have positive attitude towards Russia.
According to Estonian philosopher Jaan Kaplinski
Jaan Kaplinski
Jaan Kaplinski is an Estonian poet, philosopher, and culture critic. Kaplinski is known for his independent mind, focus on global issues and support for left-wing/liberal thinking...
, the birth of anti-Russian sentiment in Estonia dates back to 1940, as there was little or none during the czarist
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
and first independence period, when anti-German sentiment
Anti-German sentiment
Anti-German sentiment is defined as an opposition to or fear of Germany, its inhabitants, and the German language. Its opposite is Germanophilia.-Russia:...
predominated. Kaplinski states the imposition of Soviet rule in 1940 and subsequent actions by Soviet authorities led to the replacement of anti-German sentiment with anti-Russian sentiment within just one year, and characterized it as "one of the greatest achievements of the Soviet authorities". Kaplinski supposes that anti-Russian sentiment could disappear as quickly as anti-German sentiment did in 1940, however he believes the prevailing sentiment in Estonia is sustained by Estonia's politicians who employ "the use of anti-Russian sentiments in political combat," together with the "tendentious attitude of the [Estonian] media." Kaplinski says that a "rigid East-West attitude is to be found to some degree in Estonia when it comes to Russia, in the form that everything good comes from the West and everything bad from the East"; this attitude, in Kaplinski's view, "probably does not date back further than 1940 and presumably originates from Nazi propaganda."
The Estonian businessman and politician Tiit Vähi
Tiit Vähi
Tiit Vähi is an Estonian politician, Prime Minister of Estonia from 1995 to 1997, and acting Prime Minister for several months during 1992 under the transitional government....
, who briefly served as Estonia's prime minister in 1992 and once more in 1995-1997, described "overall anti-Russian sentiment" as a feature of the populist current in the country's politics, raising it as one among a number of issues with the ruling coalition of Prime Minister Andrus Ansip
Andrus Ansip
Andrus Ansip is the current Prime Minister of Estonia, and chairman of the market liberal Estonian Reform Party .-Early life and career:...
.
European discrimination watchgroups express worries about the usage of a highly derogatory Estonian term for Russians, tibla
Tibla
Tibla is an ethnic slur in Estonian language, which refers to a Russian or a SovietThe word possibly originates from the Russian pejorative addressing "ty, blyad" ,"ты, блядь" or "ty, blya" ,"ты, бля" literally meaning "you, whore"...
, in mainstream media.
Latvia
According to Andrei TsygankovAndrei Tsygankov
Andrei Pavlovich Tsygankov is a Russian-born academic and author in the fields of international relations. He is currently a professor at San Francisco State University in California, where he teaches comparative, Russian, and international politics in the Political Science and International...
, ethnic Russians in Latvia are subjected to ethnic discrimination.
Latvian American doctor and former member of the Civic Union
Civic Union (Latvia)
The Civic Union was a Latvian political party. It was founded in 2008 and most of its members came from the For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK and New Era Party. It has been described as centre-right or right-wing....
, Aivars Slucis wrote op-eds in the New York Times and Washington Post in which he explains to the Americans that Russians have invading other nations in their genes, and they can only understand the language of force. Slucis wrote that he would personally never treat a Russian patient who came into his office. In November 2010, Ģirts Valdis Kristovskis
Girts Valdis Kristovskis
Ģirts Valdis Kristovskis is a Latvian politician and the current Foreign Minister of Latvia in the Cabinet of Valdis Dombrovskis....
, the Latvian Foreign Affairs Minister, became embroiled in a scandal with Slucis after email correspondence between the two from 2009 was released by journalist Lato Lapsa. In one of the letters, Slucis stated that he would not be able to treat Russians with the same level of care that we would Latvians, and also stated that in the event of a shortage of medical supplies he would deny Russians the right to access to those supplies. In reply, Kristovskis stated that he approved of "both his assessment and vision of the situation". According to Lapsa, Kristovskis was also in agreeance with Slucis advocating for freezing and reviewing all citizenships granted after 1991 with the thought of rescinding a majority.
The North Caucasus
In a report by the Jamestown Federation, dealing with the topic of the (extremely positive according to the report) reception of John McCain's statements about Russia's "double standards in the Caucasus" (referring to how Russia recognized South Ossetia but would not let Chechnya go), one Chechen was quoted to have gone so far as to tell the website that Chechnya "cannot exist within the borders of Russia because every 50 years... Russia kills us Chechens"., demonstrating local fear of the Russian government.Journalist Fatima Tlisova
Fatima Tlisova
Fatima Tlisova is a Russian journalist currently living in the United States.- Refugee status :...
released an article in 2009 discussing the frequent occurrences of Russian Orthodox crosses being sawed off buildings and thrown off mountains in Circassia, due to the cross being associated with the people who initiated the mass expulsions of Circassians
Muhajir (Caucasus)
Circassians, the indigenous peoples of the Northwest Caucasus were cleansed from their homeland at the end of the Caucasian War by victorious Russia, which by its manner of suppression of the Caucasus directed at the Crimean Tartars and Circassians can be credited with "inventing the strategy of...
.
China
The Chinese Qing dynastyQing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
General Zuo Zongtang
Zuo Zongtang
Zuo Zongtang , spelled Tso Tsung-t'ang in Wade-Giles and known simply as General Tso in the West, was a Chinese statesman and military leader in the late Qing Dynasty....
called for war against Russia during the Ili crisis, saying: "We shall first confront them [the Russians] with arguments...and then settle it on the battlefields."
When Russians consorted with Uyghur prostitutes, in Kashgar
Kashgar
Kashgar or Kashi is an oasis city with approximately 350,000 residents in the western part of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Kashgar is the administrative centre of Kashgar Prefecture which has an area of 162,000 km² and a population of approximately...
, China, it set off rage against them.
In 1930s, a White Russian
White Russian
White Russian may refer to:* White Russian , an alcoholic beverage* White movement members during the Russian Civil War from 1918 to 1923* A White émigré from the Russian Civil War...
driver accompanying the Nazi agent Georg Vasel in Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
was afraid to meet the Hui
Hui people
The Hui people are an ethnic group in China, defined as Chinese speaking people descended from foreign Muslims. They are typically distinguished by their practice of Islam, however some also practice other religions, and many are direct descendants of Silk Road travelers.In modern People's...
General Ma Zhongying
Ma Zhongying
Ma Zhongying, also Ma Chung-ying was a Tungan Chinese Muslim warlord during the Warlord era of China. Ma Zhongying's birth name was Ma Buying . Zhongying was a warlord of Gansu province in China during the 1930s. He allied himself with the Kuomintang, which gave his soldiers an official...
, saying "You know how the Tungans hate the Russians." Tungan is another name for Hui. Georg passed the Russian driver off as German to get through. Ma Zhongying, a general in the Chinese army, then did battle against the Russians during the Soviet Invasion of Xinjiang
Soviet Invasion of Xinjiang
The Soviet invasion of Xinjiang was a military campaign in the Chinese northwestern region of Xinjiang in 1934. White Russian forces assisted the Soviet Red Army.- Background :...
. He was chief of the Tungan 36th Division (National Revolutionary Army)
36th Division (National Revolutionary Army)
The 36th Division was a cavalry division in the National Revolutionary Army. It was created in 1932 by the Kuomintang for General Ma Zhongying, who was also its first commander. It was made almost entirely out of Hui Muslim troops, all of its officers were Hui, with a few thousand Uighurs forced...
. His brother Ma Hushan
Ma Hushan
Ma Hu-shan was the half-brother and follower of Ma Chung-ying, a Ma Clique warlord. He ruled over an area of southern Xinjiang, nicknamed Tunganistan by westerners from 1934 to 1937.-Tunganistan:...
fought the Russians again, and killed many Russians in combat, leaving many graves at a memorial to war dead with Russian Orthodox crosses.
Uyghur
Uyghur people
The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...
riots against white Russians in Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
during the Ili Rebellion occurred, with Uyghurs calling for White Russians to be expelled along with Han Chinese. White Russians fled out of fear.
In 1951, Chinese Muslim General Bai Chongxi
Bai Chongxi
Bai Chongxi , , also spelled Pai Chung-hsi, was a Chinese general in the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China and a prominent Chinese Nationalist Muslim leader. He was of Hui ethnicity and of the Muslim faith...
made a speech to the entire Muslim world calling for a war against Russia, and Bai also called upon Muslims to avoid the Indian leader Nehru, accusing him of being blind to Soviet imperialism.
Mongolia
The 1926 published books "The Nineteenth century and after, Volume 99" and "The Twentieth century, Volume 99" stated that the Mongolians sought "the extermination of Russian colonists".Finland
Ingrian Finns
The Ingrian Finns are the Finnish population of Ingria descending from Lutheran Finnish immigrants introduced to the area in the 17th century, when Finland and Ingria were both part of the Swedish Empire...
, autochthones of St. Petersburg, Ingria
Ingria
Ingria is a historical region in the eastern Baltic, now part of Russia, comprising the southern bank of the river Neva, between the Gulf of Finland, the Narva River, Lake Peipus in the west, and Lake Ladoga and the western bank of the Volkhov river in the east...
and other Soviet repressions against its Finnish minorities have contributed negative view of Russia and Russians..
Japan
Most Japanese interaction with Russian individuals -besides in major cities such as TokyoTokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
- happens with seamen and fishermen of the Russian fishing fleet
Fishing industry in Russia
The coastline of the Russian Federation is the fourth longest in the world after the coastlines of Canada, Greenland, and Indonesia. The Russian fishing industry has an exclusive economic zone of 7.6 million km² including access to twelve seas in three oceans, together with the landlocked Caspian...
, therefore Japanese people tend to carry the stereotype
Stereotype
A stereotype is a popular belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings...
s associated with sailors over to Russians. According to a report by the Cabinet in Japan, the percentage of Japanese who dislike Russia is 15%. (Japanese dislike towards China is 35%, South Korea 20%, and North Korea 80%.)
Kyrgyzstan
Following the dissolution of the Soviet UnionDissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the disintegration of the federal political structures and central government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , resulting in the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union between March 11, 1990 and December 25, 1991...
ethnic clashes have been infrequent but, sometimes serious. The Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...
's 2005 Tulip Revolution
Tulip Revolution
The Tulip Revolution or First Kyrgyz Revolution refers to the overthrow of President Askar Akayev and his government in the Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan after the parliamentary elections of February 27 and of March 13, 2005...
turned into an anti-Russian pogrom in Bishkek
Bishkek
Bishkek , formerly Pishpek and Frunze, is the capital and the largest city of Kyrgyzstan.Bishkek is also the administrative centre of Chuy Province which surrounds the city, even though the city itself is not part of the province but rather a province-level unit of Kyrgyzstan.The name is thought to...
.
Poland
Russian officials claim that negative feelings towards Russia are widespread in Poland.The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reported after the Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza
Gazeta Wyborcza
Gazeta Wyborcza is a leading Polish newspaper. It covers the gamut of political, international and general news. Like all the Polish newspapers, it is printed on compact-sized paper, and is published by the multimedia corporation Agora SA...
that Gleb Pavlovsky
Gleb Pavlovsky
Gleb Olegovich Pavlovsky is a Russian national, political scientist . He was an adviser of the Presidential Administration of Russia until April 2011. During the Soviet times he was prosecuted as a dissident....
, an advisor to President of Russia Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
, complained during his 2005 visit to Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
that "Poles talk about Russians the way anti-Semites talk about Jews."
On the other hand, Poland's foreign minister Adam Rotfeld thinks that Russian politicians are "looking for an enemy and...find it in Poland.".
According to Boris Makarenko, deputy director of a Moscow-based think tank
Think tank
A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...
Center for Political Technologies
Center for Political Technologies
Center for Political Technologies — is one of the oldest independent think-tanks in Russia. Qualifications of the CPT team combine diverse areas and expertise, including politics, sociology, psychology, public relations, marketing, advertising, etc....
, anti-Russian sentiments have existed in Poland for more than 200 years. He said that much of the anti-Russian feelings in Poland is caused by grievances of the past.
The most contentious issue is the massacre of 22,000 Polish officers, priests and intellectuals in Katyn Forest
Katyn massacre
The Katyn massacre, also known as the Katyn Forest massacre , was a mass execution of Polish nationals carried out by the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs , the Soviet secret police, in April and May 1940. The massacre was prompted by Lavrentiy Beria's proposal to execute all members of...
in 1940.
"It is easy to understand why, and I am not going to defend Russia either for three divisions of Poland [at the end of the 18 century] or many other [unjust things done to Poland]. These anti-Russian sentiments resurfaced in the recent decade and there are many examples of that." Makarenko said. He also noted that Poland had criticized Russia’s stance on human rights
Human rights in Russia
The rights and liberties of the citizens of the Russian Federation are granted by Chapter 2 of the Constitution adopted in 1993.Russia is the signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and has also ratified a number of other international human rights instruments, including the...
or press freedom, and had clashed with Russia over the Orange Revolution
Orange Revolution
The Orange Revolution was a series of protests and political events that took place in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005, in the immediate aftermath of the run-off vote of the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election which was claimed to be marred by massive corruption, voter...
events in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
.
Jakub Boratyński, the director of international programs at the independent Polish think tank Stefan Batory Foundation
Stefan Batory Foundation
The Stefan Batory Foundation is the name of the national Soros Foundation in Poland. It was named after Stephen Báthory of Poland, the 16th-century Polish king....
, said that anti-Russian feelings have substantially decreased since Poland joined the EU and NATO, and that Poles feel more secure than before, but he also admitted that many people in Poland still look suspiciously at Russian foreign-policy moves and are afraid Russia is seeking to "recreate an empire in a different form."
Romania
There is a wide anti-Russian sentiment in Romania. It dates back to the conflict between Russian and the Ottoman empires in the early 19th century and the ceding of part of the Moldavian principalityBessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
to Russia by the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
in 1812 after its de facto annexation, and to the annexations during World War II and after by the Soviet Union of Northern Bukovina and Bessarabia
Bessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
and the policies of ethnic cleansing, russification and deportations that have taken place in those territories against ethnic Romanians. Following WWII, Romania, an ally of the Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, was occupied by Soviet forces. Soviet dominance over the Romanian economy was manifested through the so-called Sovroms, exacting a tremendous economic toll ostensibly as war-time reparations. Overall, there is a negative perception of everything Russian, including language, culture and people, and of those who take interest in Russia, such individuals seen as pro-Communists or Russophiles.
Turkmenistan
Universities in TurkmenistanTurkmenistan
Turkmenistan , formerly also known as Turkmenia is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic . Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states...
have been encouraged to reject applicants with non-Turkmen surnames, especially ethnic Russians.
Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
96% of respondents were positive about Russians
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
as ethnic group, 93% respected Russian Federation and 76% respected Russian establishment. In a poll held by Levada Center
Levada Center
Levada Center is a Russian independent, non-governmental polling and sociological research organisation. It is named after its founder, the first Russian professor of sociology Yuri Levada . Levada Center traces back its history to 1987 when VCIOM was founded, originally headed by Academician...
in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
in June 2009 75% of respondents respected Ukrainians
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
as ethnic group but 55% were negative about Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
as the state.
In contrast to these polls, statistics released October 21, 2010, according to the Institute of Sociology of National Academy of Science of Ukraine
National Academy of Science of Ukraine
The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine is the highest government research body in Ukraine and one of the six state academies. Its presidium is located at 57 Volodymyr Street, across the street from the Building of Pedagogical Museum where used to preside the Central Rada during the...
, attitudes towards Russians have continued to decrease since 1994. In response to a question gauging tolerance of Russians, 15% of Western Ukrainians responded positively. In Central Ukraine, 30% responded positively (from 60% in 1994); 60% responded positively in Southern Ukraine (from 70% in 1994); and 64% responded positively in Eastern Ukraine (from 75% in 1994). Furthermore, 6-7% of Western Ukrainians would banish Russians entirely from Ukraine, and 7-8% in Central Ukraine responded similarly. This level of sentiment was not found in Southern or Eastern Ukraine.
The right-wing political party "Svoboda", small on the national scale (2011 polls in Ukraine put there support on between 4% and 5% of the total electorate), has invoked radical Russophobic rhetoric (see poster) and has electoral support enough to garner majority support in local councils, as seen in the Ternopil regional council
Ternopil Oblast local election, 2009
The Ternopil Oblast local election, 2009 elections in the Ternopil Oblast regional сouncil, were held on March 15, 2009 on December 18, 2008, by the Ukrainian Parliament initiated by Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko but cancelled on 3 March 2009 by the same Parliament, with most members of BYuT voting...
in Western Ukraine. Analysts explained Svoboda’s victory in Eastern Galicia during the 2010 Ukrainian local elections as a result of the policies of the Azarov Government
Azarov Government
The first Azarov Government was appointed on March 11, 2010 as part of the "Stability and Reform" coalition between the Party of Regions, Lytvyn Bloc and the Communist Party of Ukraine in the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament...
who were seen as too pro-Russian by the voters of "Svoboda".
Georgia
Many Georgians dislike Russia because the two countries had a war2008 South Ossetia war
The 2008 South Ossetia War or Russo-Georgian War was an armed conflict in August 2008 between Georgia on one side, and Russia and separatist governments of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on the other....
in 2008.
Business
In May and June 2006, Russian media cited discrimination against Russian companies as one possible reason why the contemplated merger between the Luxembourg-based steelmaker ArcelorArcelor
Arcelor S.A. was the world's largest steel producer in terms of turnover and the second largest in terms of steel output, with a turnover of €30.2 billion and shipments of 45 million metric tons of steel in 2004...
and Russia's Severstal
Severstal
OAO Severstal Russian: Северсталь, "Northern Steel") is a Russian company mainly operating in the steel and mining industry, centred in the northern city of Cherepovets. Severstal is listed on the RTS and LSE. As of 2009, it is the largest steel company in Russia according to The Metal Bulletin....
did not finalize. According to the Russian daily Izvestiya, those opposing the merger "exploited the 'Russian threat' myth during negotiations with shareholders and, apparently, found common ground with the Europeans", while Boris Gryzlov
Boris Gryzlov
Boris Vyacheslavovich Gryzlov , is a Russian politician and current Speaker of Russia's State Duma . He is one of the leaders of the largest Russian political party, United Russia...
, speaker of the State Duma
State Duma
The State Duma , common abbreviation: Госду́ма ) in the Russian Federation is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia , the upper house being the Federation Council of Russia. The Duma headquarters is located in central Moscow, a few steps from Manege Square. Its members are referred to...
observed that "recent events show that someone does not want to allow us to enter their markets." On 27 July 2006, the New York Times quoted the analysts as saying that many Western investors still think that anything to do with Russia is "a little bit doubtful and dubious" while others look at Russia in "comic book terms, as mysterious and mafya-run."
However, the same article also quoted Aleksandr Temerko, a former vice president of YUKOS
YUKOS
OJSC "Yukos Oil Company" was a petroleum company in Russia which, until 2003, was controlled by Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky and a number of other prominent Russian businessmen. After Yukos was bankrupted, Khodorkovsky was convicted and sent to prison.Yukos headquarters was located in...
, the company which was broken up and sold off by the Russian government, saying that Western investors should treat take-overs by Russian companies with suspicion: "What if tomorrow they decide to grab Mordashov
Alexei Mordashov
Alexey Mordashov was born on 26 September 1965 in Cherepovets, Vologda Oblast. He is a Russian business oligarch and self-made billionaire...
[the oligarch in charge of Severstal
Severstal
OAO Severstal Russian: Северсталь, "Northern Steel") is a Russian company mainly operating in the steel and mining industry, centred in the northern city of Cherepovets. Severstal is listed on the RTS and LSE. As of 2009, it is the largest steel company in Russia according to The Metal Bulletin....
] and force him to sell his stock to a state company?... Then some K.G.B. agent will show up at Arcelor and say, 'I'm your new partner'.... Political motives are real; they exist.... Investors are right to fear them." Some Russian activists who are against the greater political control associated with the rule of Putin and the United Russia Party are still disappointed by such Western repulsion, however, as a lack of foreign economic presence and investment is, in their view, one of the reasons why the new government and the KGB can so easily interfere in business and economics. Arcelor shareholders themselves portrayed their doubts about Severstal's bid very differently, and completely unrelated to stereotypes of Russian business practice: they were worried about the manner in which the bid was being presented to them by the Arcelor management, who were in favour of the take-over, and the degree of personal control Mr. Mordashov would have over the new company.
View of Russia in Western media
Some Russian and Western commentators express concern about a far too negative coverage of Russia in Western media (some Russians even describe this as a "war of information"). In April 2007 David JohnsonDavid Johnson
David Johnson may refer to:* C. David Johnson , Canadian actor* David Johnson , American painter* David Johnson , American former college football quarterback...
, founder of the Johnson's Russia List
Johnson's Russia List
Johnson's Russia List is an email newsletter containing Russia-related news and analysis in English. David Johnson is the list's editor. The JRL generally comes out one or more times per day. JRL's content includes articles syndicated from other media outlets, as well as comments contributed by...
, said in interview to the Moscow News
Moscow News
The Moscow News, which began publication in 1930, is Russia’s oldest English-language publication newspaper. Many of its feature articles used to be translated from the now defunct Russian Moskovskiye Novosti.-History:...
: "I am sympathetic to the view that these days Putin and Russia are perhaps getting too dark a portrayal in most Western media. Or at least that critical views need to be supplemented with other kinds of information and analysis. An openness to different views is still warranted."
In 1995, years before Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
was elected to his first term, the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press reported: "coverage of Russia and its president, Boris Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...
, was decidedly negative, even though national polls continue to find the public feeling positive toward Russia and largely uncritical of Yeltsin."
In February 2007 the Russian creativity agency E-generator put together a "rating of Russophobia" of Western media, using for the research articles concerning a single theme — Russia's chairmanship of G8, translated into Russian by InoSmi.Ru
Inosmi.ru
-Assignment of Pustilnik:On March 11, 2009 RIA Novosti announced assigning a new editor-in-chief of the resource, Marina Pustilnik. The explanation included:...
. The score was composed for each edition, negative values granted for negative assessments of Russia, and positive values representing positive ones. The top in the rating were Newsday
Newsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
(-43, U.S.), The Financial Times (-34, Great Britain), The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
(-34, U.S.), Le Monde
Le Monde
Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...
(-30, France), while editions on the opposite side of the rating were Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
(+27, Canada) and The Conservative Voice (+26, U.S.) http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/dec/13/russia-west-media-stereotypes
Dr. Vlad Sobell claimed that an example of the anti-Russian bias in the West was that in his opinion President Putin was widely assumed to be guilty
of the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, without any evidence being considered as necessary. The only proof the Western press needed for Putin's guilt was, that the victim said so himself on his deathbed.
California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
-based international relations
International relations
International relations is the study of relationships between countries, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations , international nongovernmental organizations , non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations...
scholar Andrei Tsygankov
Andrei Tsygankov
Andrei Pavlovich Tsygankov is a Russian-born academic and author in the fields of international relations. He is currently a professor at San Francisco State University in California, where he teaches comparative, Russian, and international politics in the Political Science and International...
has remarked that anti-Russian political rhetoric coming from Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
circles has received wide echo in American mainstream media, asserting that "Russophobia's revival is indicative of the fear shared by some U.S. and European politicians that their grand plans to control the world's most precious resources and geostrategic sites may not succeed if Russia's economic and political recovery continues."
See also
- List of anti-ethnic and anti-national terms
- Nazi crimes against Soviet POWsNazi crimes against Soviet POWsThe Nazi crimes against Soviet Prisoners of War relate to the deliberately genocidal policies taken towards the captured soldiers of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany...
- RussophiliaRussophiliaRussophilia is the love of Russia and/or Russians. The term is used in two basic contexts: in international politics and in cultural context. "Russophilia" and "Russophilic" are the terms used to denote pro-Russian sentiments, usually in politics and literature...
- Anti-communismAnti-communismAnti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
- Anti-SovietismAnti-SovietismAnti-Sovietism and Anti-Soviet refer to persons and activities actually or allegedly aimed against the Soviet Union or government power within the Soviet Union.Three different flavors of the usage of the term may be distinguished....
- Racism in Russia
External links
- The Genesis of Russophobia in Great Britain
- Anatol Lieven, Against Russophobia, World Policy Journal, Volume XVII, No 4, Winter 2000/01; a review of a modern Russophobia in international politics.
- New York Times After Centuries of Enmity, Relations Between Poland and Russia Are as Bad as Ever, July 3, 2005 (subscription may be required for full text)
- Sergei Yastrzhembsky: Russophobia Still Rampant
- More Russophobia in International Press
- Corruption, Russophobia Weigh on Poland
- Finnish Russophobia: The Story of an Enemy Image
- Battling Russophobia, Guardian, 2008, by Anna Matveeva