Just because it wasn't obvious doesn't mean we shouldn't have seen it. That we didn't *was* due to a kind of blindness, a faith that was part-and-parcel of American mythology. I highly recommend you read the book for more details about this.
Replies
It is a book I aim to read at some point but back in the 1990s, there was no social media (indeed, barely an internet), China and Russia were not meaningful players and looked to be trending Westward anyway. What has come to be was far from preordained.
jan 4, 2025, 4:26 pm • 0 0 • view
But I recall editorials about rampant corruption. I saw commentary about chaos reigning in Russia, Ukraine, & elsewhere as organized crime flourished exponentially, & oligarchs coordinated & consolidated their own powers over a populace that had earnest hopes for democratic ideals, soon dashed.
jan 5, 2025, 9:15 am • 1 0 • view
Yes, that all happened. But not everywhere, and certainly not all to the same degree. The Baltic states show that Russia's path wasn't the only one available.
jan 5, 2025, 9:59 am • 1 0 • view
No one (including the book) is saying autocracy was the only path available—what it’s saying is that the pervasive view was that there was no risk, no downside, all upside to engagement. That democracy would spread and there was no risk of backward infection. I think that’s an accurate assessment.
jan 5, 2025, 12:48 pm • 2 0 • view
Yes, I see what you're saying. Thank you.
jan 5, 2025, 10:14 am • 0 0 • view