When the Soviet Union collapsed, i was still in high school. I had just learnt about world war ii in history class, and it seemed there was a disturbing parallel: we learnt about how the Treaty of Versailles, which ended WWI, had set putative terms on Germany, and that sense of victimhood had fuelled the nationalism the Nazis drew on.
The Russians hadn't lost a war, nor was there one-sided treaty. But they were plunged into hardship and wellness just months after being a world power. It seemed there was fertile ground for extremist politics there. I was quite disappointed that there wasn't more concern over this in the west. I wasn't expecting a new Marshall Plan or something, but it seemed to me that offering the Russians a little help making the transition to capitalism would have been a wise investment in world stability.
When hard-right Vladimir Zhirinovsky appeared on the scene in the mid 90's, I thought my worst fears were playing out. Fortunately, only a few Russians took the bait.
But now, it occurs to me that I was right, it's just that Russia's lashing out wasn't nearly as dramatic as I had assumed. Instead of a transition to radical politics, it has played out as a angry streak in their dealings with others. Putin seems to understand this, and is good at exploiting it. If the results never get worse than the Crimean invasion, we'll be pretty lucky overall.
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