Quote Originally Posted by AmericanPride View Post
Slap,

In your quote of her article, "potential" is the operative word. Unfortunately, Applebaum washes over entirely the chaos that constituted the Yeltsin period and set the conditions for the "revanchist, revisionist, disruptive" policies of the Putin administration. And, the question should be asked, from where do such policies and ideologies originate? It's easy to disregard the continuity of history but Russia since the 17th century has regarded itself as a 'great power', and when there's a deficit between a state's perceived status and ascribed statuis, it provides incentives for risk-taking policies. Applebaum acknowledges that the same kind of people in power during the Soviet era returned to power in a weakened Russia, but somehow concludes that these elites did not feel humiliation from the loss of superpower status?
AP since it was the Communists that actually failed as their entire system collapsed under the weight of years long lies to themselves--yes we are the greatest as we produced X million tons of this and or that.

And that is what humiliation?

The GDR fall apart for the exact same reasons the Soviet Empire fell apart---years long internal lies of how great their economies were doing/growing as compared to the West and how great the development was progressing on the development of the "socialist individual".

A house of ards better know as the great Ponzi scheme can go on for awhile but at some point always fails.

BUT again this is what humiliation?---Come on at least someone in the former Soviet Union and now Russia should stand up and take responsibility.

BUT no it is always the fault of the West is it not--nothing that occurred was they own fault?

Just as now--it is all about the "it ain't me" attitude and it has not changed since 1991.