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Western Illusions About Russia
Five major myths that have taught nothing
Over the past 25 years, the West has had several popular illusions about Russia, which have successively replaced each other like sets in a political theater. Stubborn adherence to this course of mythological thinking has largely helped the Russian Federation to become an unpredictable and dangerous force. I suggest you look at a list of these major illusions of Western democracies in chronological order.
1. Putin is a liberal imperialist, he dreams of integrating Russia into Western institutions and markets. Let’s trade with him to ensure our prosperous future. This opens up prospects for mutual trade relations and cooperation beneficial to both sides. Liberal imperialism is an old but reliable ideology (the West has successfully followed this course many times in history). An alliance between the American “imperium” and Vladimir Putin (he is a “democrat and loves the West,” as Boris Yeltsin presented him in 1999) is natural, enhancing international security. This illusion was shattered by Crimea in 2014. Liberal imperialism turned into military revanchism. The formal response of the West was the first wave of sanctions, which did not fix anything.
2. Russia can simply be ignored, it will do nothing anyway. This illusion collapsed when, on February 24, 2022, Russia took…