Culture Does Not Respect Borders

The lesson I found most valuable from lesson 12 was the unique nature in which Western European countries so commonly share their cultures, whether by design or not, across borders. While I think we take it for granted, the fact that so many different languages, as well as the other facets of cultural diversity, are seen in such a wide variety of countries is truly remarkable. Consider how many times in world history you can see cultures attempt to overwhelm their neighbors in their pursuit of forcing their cultural ideals on others, yet Western Europe (while admittedly not perfect) has managed to reinforce and protect quite a few wildly diverse culture sets. For example, every year the European Union picks two cities to name as their “Capitals of Culture” and spends the year encouraging tourism and publicizing the cultural uniqueness of those two cities (European Commission, 2021).

While this was simply an interesting fact to learn about, when transitioning to Lesson 13: Eastern Europe and Russia, it reminded me of the darker side of culture-sharing across borders. In recent years, Russia has done a remarkable job of using the exportation of their own culture into other countries as a precursor to some incredibly aggressive political strategies. Countries such as Georgia and Ukraine found themselves at an extreme disadvantage when invaded by Russian and/or their proxies when they realized that large portions of their populations had come to see themselves more as Russian than as Ukrainian or Georgian (Beehner et al, 2018). Thus, when the leaders of these countries exhorted their people to resist the Russians or their proxies during these conflicts, they found that these people identified more with Russia despite their role as the aggressor than with their own country’s government.

I think these two examples demonstrate the delicate balancing act that differing cultures must execute when they find themselves in such close proximity. On one hand, the preservation of one’s own culture can be fostered and guarded to keep it strong for future generations to enjoy and partake in. However strong, popular cultures are at risk of becoming so overpowering that they can overshadow and stifle neighboring cultures. While one can dismiss this as simple cultural Darwinism, I believe we are capable of far more than this kind of cultural fatalism.

 

References

European Commission (2021). Capitals of culture. https://ec.europa.eu/culture/policies/culture-in-cities-and-regions/european-capitals-of-culture

Beehner, L., Collins, L. Ferenzi, S., Person, R. & Brently, A. (2018) Modern War Institute. The Russian way of war. https://mwi.usma.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Analyzing-the-Russian-Way-of-War.pdf