The Russian mindset was set under the czars. The mentality was not one that could understand western concepts right after WW2. They are reverting back to their roots with Putin as their Czar.
That was a good argument 70 years ago, but things have changed in the last 30 years. Russia’s been exposed to Western ways for some time now. Opportunities opened up that weren’t available before, but they were squandered by both sides.
Well really the whole Russian authoritarianism goes back to Rurik when he was invited in specifically to force all the tribes/cities to play nice