I remember thinking that Clinton could have done a lot to open up the doors of commerce with Russia, getting business in there, helping to set up economic sectors with education, etc.
Instead the mob filled the void.
I knew a guy that did oil exploration and leasing in Russia. He never offered or took a bribe. He befriended some American at the hotel in Moscow that was a land developer. Real gung-ho, loud, brash, wheeling and dealing, etc. My friend told him that he needed to quiet down and go slow. The land developer didn’t.
They found him dead from a gunshot inside of his fancy hotel room.
Back then Americans thinking they were doing deals in Russia were mostly doing deals at the Night Flight in Moscow.