The bicontinental nature of Russia, mirrored in its national symbol — a double-headed eagle looking in two opposite directions — tends to express itself now and again in substantial turns in the country's central government policies.
Thus, after centuries of domination by the Tatar-Mongolian hordes over the territory representing modern Russia, including its western parts with the center in Moscow, the emerging and integrating Russian state has taken a predominantly European orientation.
Paradoxically, while expanding its territory and statehood in the East Asian direction, Russia got accustomed to "looking West" for new ideas, inspiration and partners in cooperation. Actually this happened even before Russian Czar Peter the Great proclaimed "cutting a window to Europe" as the aim of his foreign policy. This, in many ways a natural European orientation, has become a trait of Russia's state policies in the current post-socialist period.