[PhilDragoo]

Thank you for this item.

I disagree with Putin that the collapse of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the Twentieth Century.

Communism killed one hundred million and so is a strong contender.

Hitler's war/genocide must at least tie for the award.

Putin is now on a threshhold of great possibility, freed of territorial imperatives and totalitarian constraints.

He should be looking to a free and prosperous future.

If he chooses to look to the past, he should be arranging reparations for the tens of millions of victims of the Soviet Union.

The major feature of Christianity is the eternal prospect of salvation, which is surely preferable to any nostalgia for past empire.

[Tailgunner Joe]

A real Christian would never lament the collapse of the most Anti-Christ empire the world ever saw.

[MeekOneGOP]

[jb6]

He's referring to the nation collapsing not the communist party.

[potlatch]

Russia "will decide for itself the pace, terms and conditions of moving towards democracy".

Like you, I hope they make the right choice.

[RussianBoor]

I think I have to explain a bit, since I too have mixed feelings about the collapse of the FSU.

Communism was evil and it is good that is is gone. Remember, it was Russians and other peoples of the FSU, but mainly Russians, who ultimately crashed the Communism. You may think that you have won the Cold War. The point is, in march harder circumstances, between WWI and WWII, as well as after the WWII, the Soviet Union survived. The demise of Communism was decided in Russia, and you must admit it. However, the collapse of the Soviet Union is a bit different story.

The Soviet Union was created as a successor of the Russian Empire, which was the Russian national state for a very long time. Furthermore, the Bolshevik revolution was very bad for the development of Russia. In the words of Sir Winston Churchill, the Bolsheviks sunk the Russian ship in view of the harbour. Creation of the Communist Soviet Union in place of the ancient Russian state was a tragedy for the Russian nation. However, in a sense, the Soviet Union was the successor of the national Russian state and it is exactly in this sense that its collapse is felt as a great tragedy. You know, suppose the South had won in the Civil War and split from the US. Would it be a pain for all Americans? You might not give a damn about Canada but suppose Quebec will cede, which is now again a very real threat. Should all Canadians celebrate this fact? Do you understand that Ukraine means maybe more to Russia than Quebec means to Canada?

Having said that, there is no way Ukraine or anybody else can be or will be forced to form the Soviet Union again. However, it is the duty of any Russian leader to do everything possible to built up and strengthen friendly and close ties between Russia, Ukraine, Belorussia and Kazakhstan. Not by force but by mutual agreement based on common culture and history. Putin is by the way guilty of neglecting this duty. It will take years to repair the damage he did to the Russian-Ukrainian relations. Russia shall become again attractive to the former Soviet republics by becoming again, as it was in the beginning of the 1990s, a leader among the former Soviet states in cultural and economic development, as well as in freedoms and democracy. Putin is guilty of not understanding this.

[BOBTHENAILER]

Putin is now on a threshhold of great possibility, freed of territorial imperatives and totalitarian constraints. He should be looking to a free and prosperous future. The major feature of Christianity is the eternal prospect of salvation, which is surely preferable to any nostalgia for past empire.

Great post.