The monograph “Eurasianism – From Mythology to Scientific Facts” is a significant work dedicated to the study of the ideological phenomenon of Eurasianism. The author, a prominent Russian scientist and geopolitical thinker Rustem Vakhitov, analyzes Eurasianism as an intellectual movement, historical process, and scientific project through a multidisciplinary approach – hermeneutical, sociological, political science, and philosophical. This book is not only a historical review of the emergence and development of Eurasianist thought, but also a call for a critical reexamination of the contemporary world order and Russia’s place in it. Representing a major work for all those involved in social sciences, the book opens up new perspectives and encourages a deeper understanding of Eurasianism as a civilizational alternative to the Western paradigm.
Vakhitov thoroughly reconstructs the development of Eurasianism since the 1920s, when this idea emerged in the Russian emigration as a response to the October Revolution and the Civil War. The founders of the movement – Nikolai Trubetskoy, Pyotr Savitsky and Georgy Vernadsky – sought to formulate an authentic ideology that would shape the specific civilizational path of Russia, positioned between East and West. In his analysis, Vakhitov emphasizes that Russia is neither Europe nor Asia – but the heart of a special Eurasian civilization with a unique cultural code, historical experience and mission. This civilization is based on the synthesis of Orthodoxy, authoritarian rule and multinational statehood, with a strong reliance on traditional values and a rejection of universalisms – especially those originating from the West.
One of the central points of the monograph is a sharp criticism of Western cultural and scientific universalism. Vakhitov rejects the idea of a “universal human culture”, advocating for the right of each civilization to develop in accordance with its own values, traditions and identity. He pays special attention to the phenomenon of “peripheral nationalism”, which he presents as an instrument of Western domination and a means of breaking up integrative processes in non-Western worlds. Examples of the collapse of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union serve as illustrations of the strategy of encouraging national divisions in favor of global geopolitical interests. The monograph also sheds light on the failure of the idea of Slavophilism in political practice, especially after 1948 and the split of Yugoslavia with the Soviet Union. Vahitov points to Josip Broz Tito as a key figure in breaking the vision of a pan-Slavic state, which created space for the development of Eurasianism as an independent civilizational paradigm.
Key themes of the book: Historical development and transformation of Eurasianism from the 1920s to the present; Criticism of Western cultural and scientific universalism; Russia as a unique civilization with its own logos; The fall of the Slavophile idea and Tito's role in the transformation of the geopolitical landscape; Eurasia as a space of cultural and spiritual unity; The relationship of Eurasianism towards religion, power, multiculturalism and modernization.
