Quote Originally Posted by Peter View Post
Yes, I did note his lamenting that we are treating post cold war Russia the way we treated post-Versailles Germany (we are not, at all). He fails to point out that a decade later we decided being nasty hadn't worked and followed a policy of appeasement that,although wonderfully well intentioned and enlightened, pushed us and Europe to the brink of catastrophe.
If you were to argue that it would have been wise and enlightened for the West to have instituted a Marshall-style plan for post-Soviet Russia, I would tend to concur. I think the failure to do so represented a significant oversight. However, that ship sailed a long time ago and what we are left with is a profoundly hostile and expansionist nationalist Russia led by a keen psychopath. Quite how 'nice' he wants us to be to such a state I don't really know.