I don't think you can discount the important tradition of a Russian obsession with a "window on the West", I.e. a connection with Western Europe and the rest of the world through trade, cultural exchange and military capability that comes with access to warm water ports (ports that aren't frozen over for half the year because of their proximity to the Arctic). This obsession arguably began with Peter the Great (who build up Russia's navy, established ports on the Black sea and built his capital on a marsh at the mouth of the river Neva). It also helps to explain the historical Russian obsession with conquering Constantinople/Istanbul (capable of blocking Russian access to the Mediterranean), Russia's support for their base in Syria and the current dust up in the Crimea.

On one level it's geopolitics, on the other, it is a fairly ingrained national tradition.