In advance of the seventh regular meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club, which is to be held in St. Petersburg, Kizhi, Valaam and Moscow in the first decade of September , Richard Pipes, an American Professor of Russian History, gave an  interview for RIA Novosti where he explained his views on the influence of history and geography on the Russian political system.  According to his opinion Russia has its own, different from Western civilization, development path.

Richard Pipes says that Russia has traditionally been ruled autocratically - by a regime which has kept the population out of the political process. The majority of Russians seem to like this kind of a political system.

When asked "What do you prefer: order (poriadok) or freedom (svoboda)?" 84% percent of the inhabitants of the province of Voronezh answer "order." And order is best preserved by strong central power. President Dmitry Medvedev has confirmed this opinion when he stated publicly that "a parliamentary democracy... is unacceptable in Russia either now or in the future" because such a regime would lead to her destruction.

Dr. Pipes underlines several factors in geography and history account for Russians' preference for autocracy.

First of all, Russia is the world's most spacious country with the world's longest borderline. This has at least two political consequences:  such a vast domain requires a centralized government rather than one based on local authority and  its vastness encourages Russians to think they are endowed by nature with a right to claim status as a world power (velikaia derzhava) which, too, requires strong central authority.

The second factor, he points out, is that the Mongol conquest of Russia for nearly two and a half centuries has inculcated in Russians an Oriental political mindset according to which the sovereign has absolute power and not only rules the country but owns it. This legacy has prevented the emergence of strong traditions of private property, law and civil rights in Russia which democracies require.

He also emphasizes the role of the Orthodox church, which partly to repress heresies and partly to protect its vast land holdings, has since the early sixteenth century  advocated the idea of absolute monarchy. Joseph of Volokolamsk, in a book written in the early 1500's, wrote that while the monarch "in his being is like other men, in his authority he resembles God Almighty" and, as such, must be obeyed unquestioningly.

The forth and the last main factor behind the Russians’ mistrust of democracy and preference for autocracy, in his opinion, is that they are poorly integrated into society: judging by opinion polls, they feel loyalty only to their families and friends, and localities. They do not believe that society at large can or will help them. According to one polling organization, they see themselves surrounded by enemies: Russkie zhivut v okopakh. This means that they rely on a strong, arbitrary government to protect them.