What’s in a Name?

If you’re ethnically Russian, Jewish, Romani, Tatar, Chinese, literally anything else, but you’re a citizen of a NREENCA country, then we consider you NREENCA. And if you’re a citizen of America whose family came from a NREENCA country, we consider you NREENCA American (dual citizens are both).

We are mostly clearing this up with regards to ethnically Russian NREENCA peoples, which may be confusing. How can one be ethnically Russian of “Non-Russian”-EENCA heritage? Because their family came from Russia to a NREENCA country and then from that NREENCA country to somewhere else.

Why Include “non-Russian” in the name at all? Do we hate Russian people? Of course not! We do hate Putin and the people who help him, regardless of their nationality or ethnicity. But we fully recognize that many brave Russian (nationality) people oppose Putin and many (ethnically) Russian NREENCA heroes have died to protect Ukraine, all other NREENCA countries, and the world.

So, why “non-Russian”? Because, practically, Russia is not under threat from outside invasion. We could apply the same rules we apply to all NREENCA countries (we support them in cases of aggression against them but not in cases of aggression against others) to Russia as well, and practically it wouldn’t change or advocacy at all.

As well as because, philosophically, we took the idea from Russian propaganda, propaganda so old many of us in the west fell for it and forgot about it. The term “Eastern Europe”. The term “Eastern Europe” in English and other western languages was actually pushed by the Kremlin during the cold war as “the proper/respectful/appropriate” way of addressing the region. It was therefore first adopted in academia by “Eastern European studies” departments and then to the wider culture as just the descriptive geographic way to refer to the region behind the iron curtain.

But it makes no geographic sense, “we’re Northern Europe, like Finland and Sweden” claim the Baltics, and it is true that they have about the same latitude as Denmark. “We’re central Europe” claims Czechia, and it is true that Prague is west of Vienna. “We’re in Asia” claim many people from NCA places most Americans would think of as “Eastern European”, and they are right, they are in Asia. If not geographic, it surely must be cultural? Are all Eastern European languages East-Slavic like Russian? No, there are West-Slavic, Baltic, Finno-Ugric, and even Romance language groups. And there is incredible variance within each language group. The languages and the cultures and traditions they are a very rough map of; are as or more varied than Western Europe. There is no more one “Eastern European culture” than there is one “Western European Culture”.

What is the one thing that all “Eastern European” countries have in common? They have a long history of being oppressed by Russia. There are some cultural similarities, but they mostly come from the shared history of being in or a buffer outside of the Russian Empire, then its continuation in the Soviet Union, and now in Putin’s attempted continuation the Russian federation.

And that was why the term was invented in the Kremlin, to get the west to back off of “Eastern Europe”, to allow it to be Russia’s “sphere of influence” which was naturally none of the west’s business. It was specifically to create a concept within the west that all NREENCA countries were “basically Russian anyway”. A misunderstanding that is played off even today when Russia started this war claiming (incorrectly) that the Russian Speaking Ukrainians in the east would greet them as “liberators”. Which many Americans believed and falsely reported as part of the narrative that Kyiv would fall in three days.

“Eastern Europe” is a made-up term which most Americans believe encompasses all NREENCA countries (including those in Asia) and also Russia. Which encompasses some natural affinity and cultural similarity with Russia and is Russia’s natural “backyard” and “sphere of influence” and also must all fit the stereotypes of “Eastern Europeans” (which are part of why Americans won’t listen to Poland and the Baltics and Czechia about Ukraine). It was made up by the Kremlin specifically to make Americans and other westerners think that.

But by simply adding a “non-Russian” (and then clarifying that yes some of those countries are in North/Central Asia) we have a geographic description of everyone Russia has oppressed throughout history and continues to try to oppress today.

Claiming “Northern Europe” or “Central Europe” might save the Baltics or Czechia from the underlying belief that they really belong to Russia and all the stereotypes of “Eastern Europeans” if the westerners in all their own self-superiority believe you. But it can’t help everyone; and can only do at the expense of whoever’s left behind as “Eastern European”.

Instead, taking their term and uniting behind it. Saying “yes, we are proudly NREENCA! We all have the same problem, and that problem is Russia!” is how we can finally free everyone. It is the only way.

And maybe someday, if we fight hard enough, there will be no negative stereotypes associated with NREENCA countries. Maybe one day, if Russia finally calms down and properly democratically reforms and apologizes, we can even remove the NR.

But for now, we have a shared problem, and we can use their term and their definition to see who is on our team. The countries in Eastern Europe and/or North/Central Asia which are NOT RUSSIA.