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Originally Posted by debaser
That being said, you can point to many Mongol influences in Russia, from the prominance of Moscow (perhaps just coincidence) to the superb Cossak cavalry, to the Russians continued blame of the Mongols for their "second class" status in Europe. I would say that they influenced the areas they were in as much as any "bunch of highly mobile archers that basically swept back and forth across Asia" could have.
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The Cossaks are generally seen as a product of the geography rather than an outright copy of the Mongols. The Ukraine is a calvaryman's dream, much the same as Mongolia. There's also the note that the Mongols were so successful because of their mounts, as were the Cossaks, but the horse stock was at opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of size and use.
Moscow rose to prominence because of Ivan III, who was the one who threw off the Mongol shakle, not because the Mongolians willed it. They recognized Kiev as the capital of "Russia", such as it was.
Russia as a part of the "East" is more a question of geography than anything else, especially when you realize that the Russia of the 17th Century had borders well east of anything today.
To get back on track here, colonialism is military AND cultural. It must have both to fit the definition. There's also the issue of time, as seen by the fact that 200 years of British rule left an indelible mark on India whereas 50 years of British rule did virtually nothing for Palestine.