Russia’s defection to the West would annihilate Orthodox civilization itself

Evidence

Russia, in contrast, has been a torn country for several centuries, and unlike Mexico or republican Turkey, it is also the core state of a major civilization. If Turkey or Mexico successfully redefined themselves as members of Western civilization, the effect on Islamic or Latin American civilization would be minor or moderate. If Russia became Western, Orthodox civilization ceases to exist. — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 380

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: The asymmetry — core-state defection versus peripheral defection — is a genuinely paradigm-level insight about asymmetric consequences.
• XREF: Echoes why Russia’s repeated ‘return to Europe’ debates matter so much in current geopolitics; connects to post-2022 pivot eastward.