SUMMARY:

This article explores the doctrine of Eurasinanism as it emerged among Russian йmigrйs in the 1920s. The author looks at the Eurasianist critique of colonialism in the context of the post-structuralist conception of Orientalism and traces the genealogy of the idea of cultural zones. According to the author, the Eurasianist critique of colonialism was a result of a determined attempt to deny modern Russian nationalism’s division of Russia into metropole and colonies. By proclaiming Russia a specific Eurasian civilization and criticizing Orientalist perceptions of Asian peoples, the Eurasianists drew sharp distinctions between Western colonial empires, which were doomed to dissolution, and Russia (which supposedly had an imperial future).