[Borges]

Well a lot of pinncales of Western Culture have come from Russia...Tolstoy, Tchaikovsky...

[Clemenza]

See post #59. They were influential in the west, but Russia still developed apart from western civilization until Catherine (Peter merely opened the door).

This does not minimize the great achievements of Russian authors, scientists, artists, and monarchs. However, to call Russia a "western" country is to ignore the thousands of years of history when it was culturally and politically isolated from the west, yet had strong cultural, economic, and political relations with the east of south.