Every nation has a dream. For Iraq, it is a world oil crisis. For Croatia, it is NATO membership. For Serbia, it is a tornado hitting Washington, D.C. As for Russia, its dream is to be recognized as a part of Europe.
It could be argued that a sense of inferiority has always driven Russian history. Built in the middle of nowhere, in the great Eurasian forest, Moscow has traditionally aspired to the status of a European capital, the equal of glamorous Paris, haughty London and merry Rome. The greatest transformer of Russia, Czar Peter the Great, spent his whole life Westernizing the country, imitating European customs and importing Dutch shipbuilders, British captains and German doctors. His successors declared his mission fulfilled. Foreign visitors, however, continued to express doubts. To them, the spectacular luxury of the Russian court looked "barbaric," and Queen Victoria stubbornly referred to the contemporary Russian czar as an "Asiatic full of hate, passion and tyranny." Sharing with Russians their Eurocentric racism, the grandmother of Europe did not hesitate to cut them down and pronounce Asia -- not Europe -- their true home.
Cultural prejudices last. Even now, the best compliment you can give a Russian is to call him a European. Conversely, the Soviet regime is still accused of having perpetrated "Asiatic" atrocities. It was popularly believed by Russians that after the collapse of communism, "Europeanism" would triumph here and the country would become another France or Britain. The new times certainly brought great changes, but instead of the Champs-Elysees, Russia got a Grand Bazaar.