Loading ...i have a nephew who lives in scotland. he is an american citizen, having been born in new york city, and moving to scotland as an infant. his view of america is an amalgam of “gunsmoke” and “dukes of hazzard,” those being his favorite television programs in his formative years.
i think many americans have a similarly warped view of russia. they are a depressed people living under a tyrannical regime run by nasty commies. an amalgam, if you will, of cold war propaganda and the gloomier parts of dostoyevsky.
there is very little truth in either my nephew’s view of america or the prevalent american view of russia. the soviet union is no more. it broke up in the early 1990’s. the communist party is still there, but it is one of several minor parties with little or no influence on affairs. what is russia like? it’s a country much like other countries. big, with a modern economy in the cities, not so much in the boonies. democratic forms in their government, but dominated by an elite class. sound familiar?
we don’t have to be enemies. we could be competitors. war sucks.