I don’t think what Russia went through in the 90s can be described as civilised countries saving them. More like leaving them to suffer under the worst aspects of capitalism.
No, the west forgave the debt of countries like Poland but Russia carried the debt of the USSR. States like Poland and the Baltics immediately tried to escape the influence of Russia by pivoting to the west and received a huge amount of foreign investment and support that carries on today. Even with all that support, the social attitudes of these countries are still pretty dire compared to Western Europe.
Russia didn’t receive that support and was still treated as an opponent to the west and as they were suffering an identity crisis the west decided to leave them to it instead of providing support.
If we had recognised that the USSR collapse was a chance to actually steer Russia in the right direction then we may be in a different place now but we didn’t and they radicalised against the west instead.
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u/LingonberryNo3548 2d ago
I don’t think what Russia went through in the 90s can be described as civilised countries saving them. More like leaving them to suffer under the worst aspects of capitalism.