Drawing on both Russian and Arab sources, I examine the ways in which the unique relationship between Russia and the Orthodox communities in the Arab world can help in rethinking the established paradigms of traditional postcolonial studies. By the end of the 19th century Russia had established itself as a 'Great Power' on the world scene. At the same time, it never succeeded in establishing the same type of overseas colonies that Britain and France did. Despite this fact, during those same years Russia was able to establish a meaningful and influential presence in the region by reaching out to the Arab Orthodox community. In the place of the strong center-periphery dichotomy that characterizes British and French colonial endeavors, Russian activites in the region have a much softer division between center and periphery. Reading Arab histories of the Russian seminaries complicates the entrenched East/West dividing line of postcolonial studies, illustrating an alternative encounter between a 'Great Power' and an emerging nation that never developed the customary colonial implications. On the Russian side, my study focuses on the activities of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, which was founded by V.N. Khitrovo in 1882. Over the 35 years of its existence, this society would become the most important institution for expressing and implementing Russia's connections—spiritual, cultural and political—to the Arab world. At the time, Russia had established itself as a great power in international politics, but lacked the military and commercial power to establish a colonial presence to rival the British and French in the fading Ottoman Empire. I explore the ways in which Russia's 'non-colonial' presence in Palestine reflects a type of Orientalist discourse that differs from that described by Edward Said. The unique aspects of Russian Orientalism are well illustrated in Khitrovo’s early writings about the Holy Land. To explore the Arab side of this relationship, I look at the literary, personal and journalistic writings of some of the notable graduates of the Russian seminaries, particularly Mikhail Naimy and Khalil Baydas. Many of these graduates went on to found important journals and newspapers in the Arab world. They are particularly important in the translation of European literature into Arabic. By reading their works together with those of their contemporary Russian Orientalists, we get a sense of the special relationship between the Arab Orthodox community and the Russian Empire, opening new possibilities for the paradigm laid out in Said's Orientalism.