Yuri Lvovich Slezkine (Russian: Ю́рий Льво́вич Слёзкин Yúriy L'vóvich Slyózkin; born February 7, 1956) is a Russian-born American historian and translator.

He was a professor of Russian history, Sovietologist, and served as Director of the Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley in 2004-2013.

[3] He returned to Moscow to serve as a translator of Portuguese and moved to Lisbon in 1982 before entering graduate school in Austin, Texas, the following year.

Mercurians develop a culture of "purity" and "national myths" to cultivate their separation from the Apollonians, which allows them to provide international services (intermediaries, diplomacy) or services that are taboo for the local Apollonian culture (linked to death, magic, sexuality or banking).

He further argues that the West's unwillingness to integrate Russia into a common European security infrastructure was a major factor in provoking the war.