[libertine]

The saddest part is that while the 90s were severe, Russia could have changed for the better.. and the worst part is neighboring countries are suffering along with it.

There was a failure of institutional reform - in fact the only institution that seemed to have reformed was corruption, which changed from one elite to another.

A lot of the current state propaganda tries really hard to spin the narrative "democratic reform never again, look at the 90s"!

Like if democracy is something easy, and plug and play... Or like there's some magical impediment that doesn't allow Russians to go from serfdom to free citizens, as if it's too much for them.

For how many centuries did France iterate to implement democracy? The US had a brutal civil war. Japan had to pick itself up after WW2 and change part of the culture. Germany had to be rebuilt.

Now we're witnessing another upcoming 90s in Russia - who knows if it will be worse since Russia folded into a regional power.

Such a missed opportunity right next to a growing European Union, and China.

[alexejb]

You should look into "shock therapy" and how western powers advised the Russian government at the time. Also how oligarchs came to power from the late 80s to the late 90s. Russia experienced unhinged free market reforms applied by incompetent politicians and opportunists who managed to sell out the accumulated wealth of the former RSFSR in just a few years. I don't see how neighboring countries are "suffering along" – e.g. Ukraine got all its debts forgiven and inherited specialized industries which were subsidized by Russia during soviet times. They had 25 years to make something out of it and did basically nothing.

We'll see how the European Union will "grow" in the next years...

[wiseowise]

> I don't see how neighboring countries are "suffering along" – e.g. Ukraine got all its debts forgiven and inherited specialized industries which were subsidized by Russia during soviet times.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-Ukrainian_war

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Chechen_War

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Chechen_War

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-Georgian_War

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_Abkhazia_(1992%E2%80%93...

And many more here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_battles_involving_Russ...

And all that ignoring the puppeteering they’re trying to do in post Soviet republics.

[Lapsa]

`I don't see how neighboring countries are "suffering along"` - in Latvia, national banks got smashed, sugar factory closed, steel factory closed, bus factory closed, state forced to take billions in debt from IMF just to stay afloat and avoid default, forced to follow way too often stupid, profit hindering and barely relevant EU regulations (e.g. lawn cutting length), take into account USA sanctions, comply with multiplying foreign auditors while trying to compete in markets with participants hundred times bigger in size. my whole life I've been an observer of "recovery of economy" that never arrives. for a teacher - it takes 75 years of work to afford a modest house. currently - I have no income and can afford only food for couple more months (with 15 years of software development experience across dozens of programming languages, tools, projects, business domains, companies and organizational structures) while marked as schizophrenic dissident, actively stalked and isolated from society. it's slightly harder than figuring out what brand of car your daughter wants as a gift for her sweet sixteen

[libertine]

So once again, the narrative of Russia having no agency...the government, the People, the elites, are all reactive without choice?

It's the narrative that Russia is a victim that invades other sovereign countries because of those countries, not because it's a choice, a continuous wrong choice by the way.

> Also how oligarchs came to power from the late 80s to the late 90s. Russia experienced unhinged free market reforms applied by incompetent politicians and opportunists who managed to sell out the accumulated wealth of the former RSFSR in just a few years.

How's that different or worse from the current regime? In fact, how many Russians died in the wars of the 80s and 90s, and how many Russians have died under this regime? And for what - to try to justify a failed military operation in a country where they're unwanted?

If you don't see neighboring countries suffering, it's because you either don't care or you refuse to look.

> e.g. Ukraine got all its debts forgiven and inherited specialized industries which were subsidized by Russia during soviet times.

Yeah, and Ukraine surrendered its nukes, and look at what's happening. And Russia got funding from USA and the perks of the USSR, with all the contributions from other countries of the union.

> They had 25 years to make something out of it and did basically nothing.

Ukraine did basically nothing?

- They have one of the strongest national identities in Europe; Russia doesn't even come close to them in this regard (remember the world witnessed the Wagner coup).

- They have one of the strongest and most competent armies in the world.

- They will join the European Union and NATO;

That's not bad for a country so young.