For three centuries, Russia and Europe have been bound together by trade and migration, marriages and universities, railways and capital, war and diplomacy. That relationship has been disrupted before—by revolution, decree, and ideology—and yet it has repeatedly been rebuilt. Not because of sentiment, but because the connection runs deeper than governments or alliances. It is embedded in law, commerce, language, family, and institutions.
Returning to the West is our founding series. It begins with a proposition that may seem unfashionable today: Russia’s estrangement from Europe is not necessarily permanent. Over the past three hundred years, each of its great “forever” closures has eventually ended—and none lasted more than thirty years.
We begin with the historical record rather than the rhetoric. From there, we examine the ideas, money, institutions, and people that have shaped the relationship between Russia and Europe—and the forces that have pulled them apart. We ask not only whether another turn toward Europe is possible, but what would make it possible, what could prevent it, and what history can tell us about the conditions under which such a turn has happened before.
This site is for readers who want that history examined without nostalgia and without denial: ruptures included, failures acknowledged, and the evidence allowed to complicate the argument. Above all, it is for those interested in what the long history of Russia and Europe might tell us about what comes next.