The very name of the Eurasian Economic Union implies that it is something other than European. This is not merely a geographic distinction; it is a political distinction showing that to be part of this grouping means not being either European or Asian. The union is not a new concept. Russia has had various integration projects throughout history: the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, the Customs Union and now the Eurasian Economic Union. Each of these groupings has varied in size and scope, and each has fluctuated over time. But they were all built around the same underlying idea — that Russia is not European (at least not completely), and that Russia does not want its periphery to be European either.