And it's quite true that their political and economic example is not one we would care to emulate. But if Russia seems to lack the American knack for industry and finance, we might also remember that this supposedly backward nation has made contributions to world literature and art that America cannot begin to match. Still other nationalities, such as the Ukrainians and the Baltic peoples, have struggled with fierce passion to retain their own independent identities and have often looked to the West as a counterweight to Russian hegemony. Nonetheless it also has strong bonds with the West, even with the United States - bonds that may include common or parallel destinies. Oswald Spengler, The Decline of the West, trans.
Emphasis is in the original.
Ibid., p. 226. Billington, p. 96. Nikolai Berdyaev, The Russian Idea, trans. Ibid., p. 208. Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, trans.