The article is devoted to the examination of the views on civilizational geopolitics of the two Russian philosophers - A.S. Panarin and V.L. Tsymbursky. The two thinkers represent two different approaches to the philosophy of geopolitics - civilizational “realism” and “integralism”. Those approaches are reflected also in the authors' assessments of the prospects of Russia. V.L. Tsymbursky suggested a kind of some quaint isolation, “shelter” for Russia beyond the “straits”. A.S. Panarin saw the answer in the development of a global project that Russia could offer the world. Actually the disagreements between A.S. Panarin and V.L. Tsymbursky represent a kind of confrontation between geopoliticians and civilizational thinkers. But they also reflect the contradictions between a pragmatist and a theorist. Despite the disagreements, both authors made their worthy contribution to the philosophy of geopolitics, civilization theory and the understanding of the difficult situation that Russia faced after the collapse of the USSR.