This feels self-inflicted to me. People forget that, during the Cold War, the Sino-Soviet split was very much a thing. People also forget that post-war Russia wanted nothing more than to integrate into the broader Western (European) economy, that the US’ recognition of Taiwan as the government of China only ended in the 1970s, that the US was single-handedly responsible for propping up the KMT junta for decades, that China’s interests have never left their immediate neighborhood, or that in fact Taiwan-China relations were normalizing under Ma.
It would not be remiss for me to mention that the big Western powers are currently complaining about Georgia’s foreign agent law that would require organizations which receives significant foreign funding to register themselves… And that foreign ministers of European countries are marching in Tbilisi in protest of the law.
Foreign influence, whether that be direct (through funding) or indirect (through ideology, propaganda) is the foundation of many large social movements. That needs to be acknowledged, and it’s perfectly fine. The notion that nations are meant to be entirely independent is one not based in reality: nobody is pretending Canada could align with Russia without getting nuked to high orbit. The world is built on realpolitik, not on lines drawn on a map.
If they integrated Russia into NATO/EU in the 90s instead of stripped it for parts, it would have been the end of history for at least a generation.
One of the principle contradictions of capitalism is that any capitalist who thinks of heading off long-term problems gets replaced by one who can juice up the numbers in the immediate future. Who cares about sustaining a great position when you can make a shitload of money next quarter?
Never would’ve happened. Western capital saw the vast natural wealth of the Soviet bloc the way a starving wolf sees a steak, and were never going to allow the new Russian bourgeoisie to join the West as equals. When it became clear that Russia wasn’t going to sell itself out to foreign capital, the West responded by violating every agreement they’d made with Yeltsin to bring about the end of the USSR and isolating them.
The way you phrase this makes it seem like the oligarchs had no responsibility in shaping how Russia is today.
Russia is at least as complicit in its own destiny.
I think you can understand why any nation wouldn’t just fully embrace a failed state with their arms wide open, particularly one that, up until a recent turn, had been its most vehement opposition.
God if only USSR-China relations remained this good…
what are “narrow groups”?
