Russia’s Changing Identity: In Search of a Role in the 21st Century
... statehood, it has changed not only its name but also its identity many times, while retaining key features. That process is likely to continue in the future. The early Russian state—ancient Rus, or Kievan Rus, after its capital city—was an Eastern European country of multiple Slavic tribes ruled by an extended family of Viking princes. It became the easternmost bulwark of the European Christian world after adopting Christianity in 988 from the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. This “first” ...