Part National Differences
C LO S I N G C A S E
Russian Culture
The great British statesman, Winston Churchill, once
famously described Russia as a “riddle, wrapped in a mys-
tery, inside an enigma.” Churchill’s statement reflects the
difficulty that Westerners often have in understanding
Russian culture, which is different in important ways
from the Anglo-Saxon traditions that underpin Western
culture, as found in countries such as Britain and the
United States.
Russia has a rich culture that reflects a long and
unique history dating back to the founding in 882 of the
proto-Russian state, Kievan Rus, by Viking invaders of ter-
ritory long occupied by Slavic tribes. Over time, the
minority Viking military aristocracy merged with the
local Slavic population. Kievan Rus was particularly
important for its introduction of Eastern Orthodox reli-
gion, creating close ties between the state and the church,
a relationship that was to color much of the next 1,000
years of Russian history. Crucially, Kievan princes kept
the Church dependent upon them, even for revenues,
turning the church into an instrument of the ruling class,
something that seems to be reemerging today despite the
fact that the country was governed by the officially athe-
ist Communist Party for much of the twentieth century.
The modern Russian state dates back to the establish-
ment of the Grand Dutchy of Moscow in 1283. Over its
history, Russia has had very limited experience with
democracy, having been ruled by autocratic tsars for hun-
dreds of years and then, between 1917 and 1991, by a cen-
tralized and repressive communist regime. Although
Russia experimented with democracy between 1991 and
2000, it has shifted back toward a centralized authoritar-
ian state under the rule of Vladimir Putin, a development
that a significant segment of the Russian population
seems to accept with characteristic Russian stoicism.
Academic research has suggested that the values held
by the typical Russian differ from those held by Americans
and British in important ways. Reflecting its history of
autocracy, Russia is characterized by high acceptance of
the unequal distribution of power in society. Social status
is important in all spheres of life, including business rela-
tionships, and Russians accept this to a much greater
degree than, for example, the British or Americans.
Similarly, while individualism is a highly valued cul-
tural attribute in Britain and the United States, it is seen
as less important in Russia, where conformity and com-
munity are highly valued. The emphasis on community
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over individual is argued to date back to the fact that, for
generations, Russian life was centered on the agricultural
village commune, where the land was held in common
and decision making was the preserve of an assembly of
the heads of households.
Russians also have a greater tendency than Westerners
to avoid uncertain or ambiguous situations, which are seen
as threatening. This is perhaps not surprising, given that
for generations under communist rule, behaving the wrong
way could get one sent to the Gulag, or worse. Not con-
forming could also be a problem in Tsarist Russia. One
way in which Russians seek to avoid uncertainty is by
adhering to the formal and informal rules of society, which
tell them how to behave in certain situations. A sign of this
is Russian government bureaucracy, which is highly com-
plex and rule driven. The tendency to avoid uncertainty
may make Russians less innovative and entrepreneurial
than Westerners; thus, the culture of Russia may have an
impact on the business environment. At the same time,
Russians have a tendency toward pessimism and cynicism,
a feeling that social norms and rules restrict people’s
actions and behaviors and that they cannot influence this.
On a lighter note, it is often noted that Russians do not
seem to smile as readily as Americans. This is often attrib-
uted by outsiders to Russian stoicism, which is itself seen
as a consequence of how hard life has often been in
Russia. However, Russians themselves are often perplexed
by how much Americans smile. A Russian will smile
when something funny has happened, but smiling when
nothing funny has occurred, as Americans often do, is