Mikhail Gorbachev has died

The United States didn't do enough to help Russia transition to democracy in the 1990s. There was no "Marshall Plan" after the Cold War like there was after World War II. This was a huge mistake, and we see the consequences now, with Russia having turned back toward totalitarianism and imperialism. Sadly, it seems that Gorbachev's efforts were mostly for naught. But it was courageous at the time to open up the Soviet Union to glasnost and perestroika.

Of course Yeltsin was a big part of the problem too.

If you study geopolitics and history, you might come to the conclusion that Russia was never going to be a democratic ally of the West regardless of how much economic aid they were given.

Russia at the end of the cold war had geopolitical imperatives such as a warm water ports, buffer states and desire for Russian hegemony that would have existed regardless of their economic state. They also have a long, long history of authoritarianism.

> If you study geopolitics and history

Please don't make assumptions about what other people have or haven't studied.

> They also have a long, long history of authoritarianism.

You could say the same about the Axis powers in WW2.

I think it's pretty clear that many people here lack historical and geo political context.

"Can you believe Russia would invade to get a warm water port?!"

Yes, I would.

Btw your analogy of "why isn't germany authoritarian" is off the mark, because the Russians and NATO completely dismantled the existing power structures post ww2 through force. We did not do anything close to that post cold war. In fact the communist party still exists today in Russia.

Another point is that the US made it clear it would not tolerate an openly authoritarian government in Western Europe but would tolerate far right groups for its own purposes against communism.

> I think it's pretty clear that many people here lack historical and geo political context.

> "Can you believe Russia would invade to get a warm water port?!"

> Yes, I would.

You couldn't have a more blatant straw man argument.

I'm not going to reply to you anymore. All you're doing here is chest beating.