Saturday, August 20, 2011

Russians Pine for Old Soviet Union

At NYT, "20 Years After Soviet Fall, Some Look Back Longingly."

The article notes that "Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin, called the fall of the Soviet Union the “greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century”."

That's a wistfulness for great power status tempered by some Great Russian Nationalism. I doubt too many Russians are all that nostalgic for communism. Stability and economic security in general mean more that the stale old Soviet ideology.

Recall as well that Foreign Policy had that big 20 year retrospective on the fall of the Soviet Union, "Revolution Road." It's worth a look.

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