The Russian Empire and Its Eurasian Counterparts
Interview with Michael Khodarkovsky about his book The Steppe and Its Empires: The Russian Empire and Its Eurasian Counterparts. Reframes Russia as a Eurasian, rather than European, empire, comparing it to Ottoman, Persian, Mughal, and Chinese counterparts. Highlights Russia’s unique assimilationist imperialism – ‘include and rule’ – in contrast to the West’s ‘divide and rule’. Russia’s state was militarised, with expansion transitioning from defensive to an offensive geopolitical drive. Unlike European feudalism, Russia lacked an independent nobility, with autocracy relying on non-native elites to suppress indigenous power, leading to a highly centralised, war-orientated state.
