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 stripping it for parts, it would have been the end of history for at least a generation.
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”?
